Happy Crush Day
by AlphaBetaSoup
Summary: Happy Crush Day is supposed to be happy. Hence the 'happy' part. But when a new girl comes, you might as well change its name to Happy Crushed Day... A BEAUTIFUL BETA story!
1. Chapter 1

_Yo. It's Beta with a new fanfic. A GLC one to be exact. One that's WAY better then my other one. Yeah...that one was pretty random. This one I'm actually going to be working hard on. This is Jabe (of course) since Jabe is awesome and totally worth writing fics about! This is also a future fic. Not that far into the future, just around two or three years so Gabe and Jo are around fourteen/fifteen. _

_Now stop reading this and actually read the darn story! :D_

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><p><em>Disclaimer: I do not own Good Luck Charlie. I do not own Good Luck Charlie. I do not own Good Luck Charlie. I do not own Good Luck Charlie. I do not own Good Luck Charlie...yeah, you get the point.<em>

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><p><strong>Jo's POV <strong>

_"I've been waiting..."_

_I spin around. There he is, hidden beneath the shadows of the trees. All I can see is his eyes. His big, beautiful, brown eyes. The rest is lost in the ugly blackness. The boy is staring. Staring straight at me. I take one step forward, and then another. I take a third step but something stops me. Something cold, like a wall made of ice. An ice wall separating me from my future. _

_The boy laughs and turns around. _

_"No!" I yell. _

_He ignores me and walks away. I try to follow him but the stupid wall stops me. There goes the boy of my dreams and the rest of my life... _

I sit up and rub my eyes. I've been having that same dream for the past month. It's starting to get on my nerves. It started when I got that stupid fortune cookie. There printed in bold black letters were the words: **You must fight for the one you love. **I find that kind of ironic since my dream won't even show me who the guy is. I sigh and check my alarm clock. 10:57. Darn, I'm late for school...oh well. There's always tomorrow. I grab a handful of random clothing and head to the washroom.

First I brush my teeth and then I look through the clothes I picked up for something to wear. After a long debate on whether orange made me look like a carrot or not I finally decide to go with the neon green tank top under a black cardigan and dark blue skinny jeans. I brush my hair and put it up in a messy bun. Then I head downstairs.

The first thing I see when I walk into the kitchen is a note taped to the counter. It's from my mom.

**Going to town. I'll be back by 5 **

**~Mom **

**P.S. This is the last time I'm letting you skip **

Dang it! She's onto me. I pop a couple slices of bread in the toaster and turn on the TV. I watch and wince at the sight of animals doing their _business. _Stupid nature channel. I can't believe my mom actually watches this crud.

After flipping channels for twenty minutes I finally settle on my favourite show, _Good Luck Harlie. _It's about a family, the _Luncans_, learning to cope with the arrival of the newest member of the family. My favourite character is Mo. She's this girl that bullies the youngest son Abe. Mo reminds me a lot of myself for some strange, bizarre reason. She kind of looks like me too.

I'm about half way through the first episode, _Ready Date_, when the doorbell rings. I groan and drag myself to the door.

"Who is it?" I yell. No answer. I yank the door open.

"Hey Jo," Gabe says, inviting himself in.

"What are you doing here stupid?" I ask, locking the front door, "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"I was wondering the same thing about you," he replies opening the fridge, "when was the last time your family went grocery shopping?"

I roll my eyes. "Seriously, why the heck are you here?"

"Because I left my hoodie here a few days ago and I'm hungry—ooh, donuts!"

Ugh. I run to the backyard. Where the heck is Gabe's hoodie? I know he left it in my backyard because we were paired up for that lame cloud project. I don't see why we needed partners since all we did was look at clouds. Lame, right? Anyways, after about fifteen seconds, we got bored and went upstairs to throw water balloons at random people walking on the sidewalk from my bedroom window. Gabe threw a really big one that hit an old lady. The old lady turned out to be Mrs. Dabney. Then Gabe dropped his sweater and Mrs. Dabney jacked it. I ran back downstairs.

"Your sweater's cat litter. Now get out of my house," I kick him.

"Ow...that's not really why I'm here," Gabe says taking a bite of a cherry donut.

"Well if that's the case..._get out_!" I yell grabbing a chocolate one.

"No. The reason why I'm here is because Jake texted me saying that he heard from Heather that she overheard Stella tell Maddi that Zoe told her she was told by Brittney that the other Heather dared Kit to sign you up for helping with the Crush Day dance," Gabe shrugs.

"Kit did_ what_?" I nearly choke on my donut.

"She signed you up for-"

"I heard what you said, Stupid! But why? She knows I hate helping other people!" I whine.

"She only did it because Heather dared her," Gabe reminds me.

"I don't care! She still signed me up! I'm not helping with any stupid C-day dance!"

Okay, if you're wondering what Crush Day is, you obviously don't go to my school. Crush Day is Valentine's Day but with a different name. The reason why we call it Crush Day is because...Valentine's Day just sounds stupid. The main thing is that between the Monday and Thursday of whatever week V-Day is on, people buy candy hearts and roses and stuff. Candy for anyone, white roses for your friend, pink roses for some you kinda like, and red roses for some you _really_ like or are dating. On Friday there's this big dance that anyone who's anyone attends. Even the nobodies attend.

"Jo? Jo! Are you listening?" Gabe asks me.

"What!" I glare at him.

"So anyways, then Chance told me that Lucille told Stella who told Maddi that Heather yelled at Heather for not telling her that Jake saw Kit see you sign _me_ up," Gabe raises an eyebrow.

I gasp. "Kit saw me? I must be losing my touch. No one's supposed to see Jo Keener do anything sneaky!"

Gabe gives me a look.

"Yeah I signed you up," I shrug, "but that was only because I was bored and I hadn't done anything mean to you in that hour. I have a reputation to maintain, you know?"

"Yeah, but why? You know I hate helping people!" he says, mimicking my earlier act.

"Shut up!" I throw the empty donut box at him.

"I have an idea," he says rubbing his head, "Let's not help people by playing Die Zombies Die II." Gabe stares at the game sitting on the counter fresh and unopened.

I grin. "I like the way you think, Stupid."

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><p><em>So, whaddya think? Good? Bad? Sucky with a chance of greatness? There's only one way to find out...REVIEW! <em>

_Love ya like an awesome fanfictioner, _

_BETA _:) :D :P


	2. Chapter 2

_Hi! It's Beta back with another chapter of Happy Crush Day! Why is it that chapters always look shorter once you upload them? Anyways this chapter is just something I made up as I went along. It takes place during the first meeting of the dance committee._

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><p><em>Disclaimer: GLC is not mine. If it was...well let's not go there.<em>

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><p><strong>Gabe's POV <strong>

"Okay people! We have exactly three weeks to make this gym the most romantic place on earth!" Heather (the hot one) says. "First we need to plan! I say a romantic Paris theme. Anyone have any other ideas?"

Jo puts up her hand. "Who put you in charge?"

"Mrs. Young...the _principal_," Heather smirks. Jo just rolls her eyes.

"I think we should have an old fashioned regular C-Day dance. You know, with lots of pink and red and white," Kit suggests.

"Too boring," Heather says popping her gum. "Anything else? Lucille…Chance…_Gabe_?" Heather looks at me expectantly.

"I dunno," I shrug. "Underwater?"

Heather shakes her head. "Too wet."

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" Jake says literally jumping in his seat.

I spin around. "Jake? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help with the dance. Duh!" Jake laughs, like that explained everything.

"Jake?" Heather raises an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah! Um...we should have a Monster Mash theme! We all should get to dress up as our favourite monster and we should have games like bobbing for apples and pin the witch on the broomstick! And we could also have one of those cool fog machine thingies and maybe even a haunted house and—"

"Jake, this isn't Halloween," Heather says, crinkling her nose.

"It isn't?" Jake gives Heather a genuinely confused look.

"I think we should have a Romeo and Juliet type theme," says a girl I don't recognize. She has long brunette hair and pale blue eyes. She's the hottest girl I've ever seen. I know I've said that about Kit, and Heather, and pretty much every other girl I've ever had a crush on but this time I'm certain. She is seriously the hottest.

"Who the heck are you?" Jo looks at the girl.

"I'm Juliette," she replies instantly.

"Well Juliette, Romeo and Juliet is pretty romantic," Heather says tapping her clip board with her pen, "but you _do _know how many people die in that play, right?"

"Six, but it doesn't matter. It's not like we're actually going to have people running around and killing one another," Juliette points out.

"Yeah but still…" Heather says biting her lip, "Anything else?" I see Juliette frown out of the corner of my eye.

"I kinda like the Romeo and Juliet thing," I say, hoping to impress Juliette.

Jo rolls her eyes. "Like you even know who Romeo and Juliet are," she laughs.

I ignore her. "We could have a giant balcony or something and we could wear whatever-the-heck they wore back then." I say. Juliette smiles at me. I smile back.

"Cool...but wouldn't that be kind of expensive?" Kit asks.

"I think you guys forgot the little detail that I'm the richest person at this school!" Brittney sings.

"So you'll pay for us to rent a fake giant balcony?" Juliette asks hopefully.

"Heck no! I'm pretty sure the drama club already one of those," Brittney says.

"O-kay? What about costumes?" Juliette asks.

"If you think I'm actually going to wear one of those dresses, think again," Jo glares at her.

"We don't actually have to dress like they did back then. We could just wear regular dresses and tuxedos or whatever," Chance says.

"Chance? You're here too?" I look at him.

"Yeah. You didn't notice before? You, me, and Jake are the only guys here," Chance shrugs.

I look around. He's right. This place is crawling with girls..._sweet_!

"Then what's the point of the theme?" Heather asks.

"We could dress like superheroes with superpowers and weaknesses!" Jake exclaims, "We could wear superhero masks and superhero suits and have weird superhero catchphrases! We could even have superhero names like Crusher or Dilly bar..."

"Dilly bar?" Lucille raises an eyebrow.

"What? I'm hungry!" Jake's eyes widen as Lucille passes him a granola bar.

"Wait! Jake! You're a genius!" Heather squeals.

"He is?" Jo looks doubtful.

"I am?" Jake says with his mouth full of granola bar.

"Masks! It could a costume ball! We could all wear fancy masks and stuff, but they'll still be a giant balcony. We'd eat French foods and maybe even have bobbing for apples or whatever. We could also decorate the gym with regular pink and red hearts so we can include a bit of everyone's ideas!" Heather claps her hands, dropping her clip board.

"What does any of this have to do with underwater?" I ask.

"We can include a bit of everyone except Gabe's ideas!" Heather corrects herself.

I shrug. The dance seems pretty weird to me. Adding water would just make it weirder.

"I'm bored. Is the meeting over yet?"Jo whines.

"First we have to vote. All in favour of making this weirdly awesome idea the theme of our C-Day dance?"

Everyone raises their hands instantly. Not because we like the idea, but because we are all bored out of our minds and would kill to go home right now.

"Okay, everything theme is in. This meeting is O-V-E-R!" Heather declares as she walks out of the room. Everyone else follows shortly after.

"Thanks for helping me out back there. Most people don't listen to the new girl," I look up to see Juliette standing in front of me. She is wearing an orange t-shirt, skinny jeans, and brown boots.

"No problem. So you're new, huh? I was wondering why I hadn't noticed someone as pretty as you before," I say, turning on my charm.

Juliette giggles.

"I'm Gabe."

"I'm Juliette, but I'm pretty sure you already knew that. So...um...could you help me find my way out of this dump-I mean school?"

I laugh. "Sure!" I say grabbing my bag and standing up. We walk off together, not noticing that someone else was still in the room.

As we walk through the halls our shoulders touch. Before I even realize it, I grab her hand. Juliette just smiles and grips it tighter.

_Wow,_ _I think I just found my Juliet... _

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><p><em>As you can tell, I changed the summary. I changed it because before I didn't know what to write. Now that I have developed the plot a bit more and changed the summary, the story will probably sound a lot more interesting. <em>

_Peace out, _

_Beta ;)_


	3. Chapter 2 - Extra

This is a little bonus chapter that I added for fun. It was supposed to be in chapter two, but I liked the way the second chapter ended too much to add this. I know it's short. That's kind of the point. Now please read it!

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><p><strong>Jo's POV <strong>

As Gabe and Juliette leave I watch in disgust. I hope Gabe didn't forget he's supposed to come to my house for more boring cloud watching.

I sigh and pick up my bag. _I should have just skipped again. _

I know Mom probably wouldn't cover for me again and I'd probably get detention. Maybe even get suspended. Not like that matters since not going to school is the whole point of ditching, making suspension completely pointless.

I walk by Kit and Heather blabbing on about the new lip gloss flavour. Gag. I walk by Stella and Lucille talking about the sleepover we were supposed to have this weekend. They call my name but I ignore them. As I walk by Gabe and Juliette flirting by Gabe's locker my stomach suddenly gets revenge. I run to the nearest garbage can and...you know. Out comes the cereal I had for breakfast. I never realized how much better Froot Loops looked in the box.

I'm not sure why I suddenly felt so sick. I didn't care whether or not Gabe and Juliette liked each other. I wasn't jealous...was I?

Of course I wasn't! The only thing I was jealous about was the fact that Juliette can actually pull off the colour orange without looking like a carrot.

I zip up my hoodie and shove my hands into my pockets. I am surprise to feel a small, crumpled piece of paper. I flatten it down and read it. On it are words that really get me thinking.

**You must fight for the one you love.**

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><p><em>This (believe it or not) is not your typical girl gets jealous story. Well it is, but it's not. You're probably confused right now. Well so am I. I am so weird. LOL! <em>

_R-E-V-I-E-W! What's that spell? PIZZA...I mean, review? _

_Good Luck, _

_Beta XD_


	4. Chapter 3

_Yo yo yo! Beta here with an all new HCD chappy! Hooray! _

_Sorry I haven't been uploading but with school and all...yeah...just read the story :) _

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><p><em>Disclaimer: The usual... <em>

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><p><strong>Jo's POV <strong>

**Saturday... **

_"No!" I yell. _

_He ignores me and walks away. I try to follow him but the stupid wall stops me. There goes the boy of my dreams and the rest of my life... _

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

I groan and throw a pillow at my alarm clock. It's the flipping weekend for crying out loud! Why is it even on?

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

I groan again and roll out of my bed. My head hits the corner of my nightstand. Ouch...

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

I pick up my alarm clock and chuck it across the room. It hits the wall with a loud _smash_!

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

"_Seriously_?!" I scream before running to the garage to get a hammer. Mom will be so ticked...

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><p>I groggily go to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Then I pull on my house robe and go downstairs to eat break. I'm on my third bowl of <em>Rice Krispies<em> when the doorbell rings. I groan again then get up to open it. Standing on the other side is none other than Gabe Duncan.

"Hey J—" Gabe cuts short, looking me up and down.

I feel my face go bright red. "What do you want, Stupid?"

"I came to work on the cloud project. I can't afford to fail again. My mom would kill me," Gabe says like it's the most obvious reason in the world.

"I hope you realize you were supposed to come over _three darn days ago_!" I scream at him.

"I know, but I've been so busy with my girlfriend..."

I raise my eyebrows. "_You_ have a girlfriend? Yeah right!" I laugh.

At that exact moment, Juliette walks in.

"Hey babe," Gabe says hugging her and giving me a look that screams '_I_ _told you so!' _I roll my eyes.

Juliette hugs him back. "Hi Jo!" she smiles at me, not paying any attention whatsoever to my horrid appearance.

"Hi," I reply absentmindedly. I'm too busy gawking over how much prettier Juliette looks compared to me.

Juliette looks twice as pretty as she did last time I saw her. Her long brunette hair is pulled into a thick French braid and she is wearing the cutest vintage tee and skinny jeans ever. No wonder Gabe likes her over me. Not that I actually care or anything...

"What is _she_ doing here?" I ask, snapping out of it.

"Well, since there were no groups left for Jules to join, I asked Mr. Trench to let her join ours. He said no of course. Then she blurted out a bunch of random cloud facts and he changed his mind. My little Juliette is so smart," he grins.

"Aww thanks," Juliette gushes. "But you know that I was just reading off some random cloud fact poster." They start rubbing noses together, then end up..._kissing._

Awkward...

"Is there a bathroom?" Gabe asks as soon as they're done.

I roll my eyes. Of course there's a bathroom! It's my darn house! I point down the hall.

"Come back soon _Romeo_," Juliette giggles.

"I will _Juliet_," Gabe replies kissing her cheek before heading to the washroom. Gosh, they're acting like they won't see each other for years. He's just using a washroom!

Juliette turns back to me. For a second I swear I see hatred in her eyes. It's quickly replaced by another large smile. "I guess it's just you and me then. Let's go for a walk." Juliette yanks me out the door before I can protest.

As soon as we're away from the house her smile disappears. In its place is a scowl uglier than mine. She slaps me across the face.

"_What the heck_!?" I exclaim, my natural instincts forcing me to flip her. She crashes onto the pavement with a loud thud. She's about to get up and lunge at me but then she suddenly stops.

"Ow!" she wails, tears forming in her eyes. Her mascara is running and her lip is quivering. She looks so sad that I almost feel guilty. Maybe she meant to swat at a bee or something? Somehow I knew that wasn't the case.

"What the heck is right," I spin around. It's Gabe.

Uh oh...

"What's your problem, Jo?" Gabe screams at me. His face is so close to mine our noses nearly touch. His breath smells like a mixture of bacon and chocolate chips, the best combination.

"My problem is that your _girlfriend_ just slapped me across the face!" I scream at him. He takes a step back.

"I highly doubt that," Gabe snorts, reaching to help Juliette up.

Juliette bawls louder. "My-my ankle. I-I th-think it's br-brok-en," she sniffs. Gabe helps her up.

"Wow Jo. I cannot believe you. I've always known you were violent, I am too, but seriously?" he says before walking off.

"But Gabe—" I start but he's already gone. My heart drops. I can usually handle this kind of drama but not this time. Something keeps telling me I should run after him; prove to him that Juliette is the guilty one.

_You must fight for the one you love. You must fight for the one you love. You must fight for the one you... _

"Gabe! Wait!" I scream, but he ignores me. Ugh, typical. I start running after him.

"Gabe! _Gabe_!" I'm about to catch up to him when I trip on a stick. Suddenly I'm head first in a mud puddle.

I hear Juliette laughing at me but I don't bother look up. I don't care to see the face she's probably giving me right now. I don't care to see the face she's giving Gabe, probably a gross romantic one. I don't even care to see Gabe's sweet face. Ew! Did I just say that out loud? Ugh never mind. I don't care to see his face either.

I'd rather stare at mud.

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><p><em>So as you may or may not have noticed, so far this story doesn't have much to do with Crush Day. Don't worry though. As the story progresses Crush Day will become a major part in this GLC fic. Also if you think you can predict what might happen next, think again. I will type this once and only once (actually I'll probably type this again in the next AN); THIS FANFIC WILL HAVE A LOT OF PLOT TWISTS! Trust me, I have a good idea of what will happen next and it's not pretty. One word: DRAMA!_

_So yeah. Thx for reading. And PLZ PLZ PLZ review ;)_

_xoxox BETA (Beautiful Energetic Troublesome Artist) That's me! :D_


	5. Chapter 4

_Hey GLC luvers! I'm back! _

_I know it's been a really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really long time and I apologize for that. I just wasn't that into Jabe for a while so I didn't feel like writing about them. I was actually thinking about deleting this story but luckily I didn't. Now, on with the story!_

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><p><em>Disclaimer: I don't own any of the awesome characters except Juliette, who isn't as awesome and some of the random people I mention who don't have much to do with the story.<em>

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><p><strong>Jo's POV <strong>

"What do you mean you're grounded?" I yell into my cell phone.

Stella sighs. "I'm not grounded! I'm just not allowed to leave the house...because I got in trouble."

"Yeah, that's called 'being grounded'! Just sneak out or something! I am _not_ trashing Juliette's house alone!"

"Trashing Juliette's house? I thought we were going to Dairy Queen!" Stella says.

"We will...after we destroy Juliette's house."

"No way! I am not going to TP _or_ paintball _or_ smash the windows of anyone's house. They could call the police on us! We could get arrested!"

"Chill, Stella. I'm just kidding. _Maybe. _We won't TP their house. _Maybe a paintball or two..."_

"_Jo_!"

"Okay, okay. Stay at home and bore yourself to death. I don't care. See you at school then?"

"I guess. Bye?"

"Bye," I hang up.

_I guess I'll just do it myself..._

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><p>If you're wondering how I know where Juliette lives, I'm not gonna tell you. I know that makes me sound like a stalker but whatevs. Let's just put it this way; <em>I have my ways...<em>

"Ew!" a voice whines as a figure appears at the doorway.

I look around quickly before jumping into a nearby bush.

"What kind of mother are you?" the figure says, walking down the concrete steps. I recognize that voice.

It's Juliette.

"Ew!" she whines again.

I roll my eyes. Juliette is such a girl. It's weird. She seemed a lot more down to earth and..._cool_ when I first met her. You know, before the whole her threatening me and me 'breaking her leg' thing.

Breaking her leg...wait a minute! If Juliette broke her leg then why is she taking out the trash? I peer over the bush and take a peek. Juliette doesn't even have a cast on.

What a _fake_!

I'm so ticked off right now that I could go and break her leg for real. But I won't for two reasons. #1: I'll get in trouble (though it'd total be worth it), and #2: I would have absolutely no proof whatsoever that I did not break any part of this girl and if I have no proof, I can't prove to Gabe that Juliette's a horrible girlfriend and that he should dump her. Hard.

That's right, I'm showing Gabe. He deserves to know the truth.

No matter how 'stupid' he may be.

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><p><strong>Gabe's POV <strong>

I'm sitting at the dining room table _'doing my homework' _when the doorbell rings. Instead of opening it, I listen as my now four year old sister Charlie drags a chair to the door so that she's tall enough to unlock it.

"Gabey! There's a pretty girl at the door!" she yells before slamming the door and running upstairs.

Typical Charlie to forget to let the person into the house. I get up, expecting it to be Juliette. Instead I find...no one.

"Charlie! How dare you make me get up for no reason—"

"Hey, Stupid."

I spin around. "Jo?"

She rolls her eyes. "No duh!"

I look at her, then at the door, and then back at her. "How the heck did you get into my house?"

"I think the real question is how could you possibly think that Juliette was all sweet and innocent?" she asks, pulling out her cell phone.

"Uh...because she's my girlfriend?" I shrug. "I thought relationships were all about trust...or at least, that's what Teddy always says. Then again, since when do I listen to Teddy?"

"Okay! Just shut up and look at this," Jo replies, handing me her phone. I take it.

"Why do you have a picture of Jake picking his nose? Are you stalking him or something?" I raise my eyebrows.

"What the heck are you talking about?" she grabs the phone back from me and frowns, "Blackmail, blackmail, blackmail, blackmail! Dang it! _Where's the evidence_?! Was I really stupid enough to forget to take a single picture? Dude, I think your idiocy is rubbing off on me!"

"Oh gee, thanks Jo. But seriously? What evidence are you talking about?" I ask.

"It's your stupid girlfriend!" she yells. "I saw her—"

"Saw her? Where?"

"At her house—"

"Oh great. So now you're stalking my girlfriend? What's wrong with you?"

"Would you just shut up and let me speak?" Jo cries. "I _saw_ her walking around castless and taking out the garbage!"

"That's impossible. You sprained her ankle. Remember?"

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean...ugh! What I'm trying to say is yes, I remember her spraining her ankle and no, I didn't actually sprain it! She's a liar!" Jo declares.

"Like you? Look Jo, do you really expect me to believe that Juliette's a liar when you lie to me all the time?" I ask.

Jo snorts. "I am _not_ a liar! Name one time I ever lied to you."

"Hm…how about that time in fifth grade when you said you were helping me win class president when you were really just trying to sabotage me?" I ask.

"That was years ago and I already apologized for it, like, loads of times. And that video you showed everyone? Also a lie!" she points out.

I nod thoughtfully. She does have a point, but there have been lots of other times when Jo has lied to me. Like the time she told me that Kit liked me, or the time she told me that Heather liked me, or the time she told me that Brittney liked me…yeah, she lies to me about girls a lot.

"Um…_hello_? Gabe?" Jo sighs, "Even if I do lie to you often—which I don't—why would I lie about something like this?"

"Because you're _Jo flippin' Keener_! You look at life like it's some stupid game you can't win and mess things up so you can! You can't control reality Jo!" I don't know why I'm yelling at her. She does this type of thing all the time. Why is it such a big deal to me now?

"Are you saying that I'm a cheat at life?" Jo looks at me with angry eyes, "I cheat at a lot of things! I'll admit to that! But life? Really Gabe? The one time I'm honest with you, you don't even believe me!"

I smirk. "So you admit to being a liar." That sets Jo to flames.

"I am _not_ a liar! I do _not _look at life like a game and I definitely _am not a stalker_! I'm just trying to prove to you that your stupid girlfriend is a_ fake_!"

"Juliette's no fake. Why do you hate her so much?" I ask, trying to keep my cool.

Jo doesn't answer me. It's quiet for a while.

"Gabe. This. Isn't. Over." She hisses at me. Her face is so close to mine that our noses nearly touch. Her breath smells like a mixture between popcorn and pudding, the perfect combination. I instantly feel guilty and attempt to apologize.

"Save it," she mumbles before stomping out the door.

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><p><em>If anyone's confused, Juliette 'sprained' her ankle. <em>

_I hope you liked this chappie! I'll try not to wait another, like, three months before posting! R&R PLZ! _

_~Beta :) _

_P.S. Hope you had a very merry Christmas and an equally Happy New Year!_


	6. Chapter 5

_Hey guys! I decided to post this cuz, well, I felt like it! I've really got nothing to say except that Alpha hasn't read this yet so there might be a couple errors. Nothing big though._

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><p><em>Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie.<em>

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><p><strong>Jo's POV <strong>

It's been a while since Gabe and I last spoke to each other.

We've barely even seen each other since the argument. Even in class we don't acknowledge each other's existence. Mom's noticed how moody I've been lately. After days of nonstop 'honey, are you okay?' I finally told her what's up. Then she went all 'mother mode' and said that if I wanted to stay in a proper relationship with Gabe, I should listen to what Gabe has to say. Then I had to explain to her that Gabe and I aren't together and that the whole thing started _because_ he has a new girlfriend.

"Okay team! I know you can do better than that!" Heather says clapping her hands. I groan. Heather's really been getting on my nerves ever since we started decorating the gym an hour ago. Her peppiness is totally clashing with my moodiness.

"I bet we could do even better if you _actually helped us_!" I snap.

Heather stares at me with big, wide eyes. "I _am_ helping you. Who else is there to tell you that the heart you are holding is the wrong colour. It's supposed to be fuchsia, not magenta."

I roll my eyes. "They're the _exact same colour_! Sheesh. You're even less helpful than Brittney." I ignore Brittney's death glare.

"Calm down," Lucille says softly. "We're all working hard here." She quickly glances at Brittney, who's sitting on a table with her laptop, probably online shopping or something else equally dumb.

"Whatever," I mumble, dropping the paper heart and walking to the other half of the gym.

I hate to admit it, but this half actually looks good. There's hearts and streamers and balloon galore. Whoever's been working here has been doing a pretty good job. I look to see who is working on this side. There's Jake, and Chance...and Gabe...and, of course, Juliette.

Typical.

"Hi Jo!" Juliette squeals. She's grinning but I can hear the cruelness in her voice. "Do you like my decorating?"

"I. Don't. Like. You," I deadpan.

She pretends to look offended. "Really? I thought we were friends," Juliette wipes away a tear. Dang, she's good.

I put my hands on my hips. "I like your style...but Gabe's not here." I point to him. He's randomly throwing paper airplanes at Jake and Chance. How immature...if I wasn't still mad at him I'd totally join them.

Juliette glances at him then turns back to me. "I hate you."

I roll my eyes. "Really?" I say sarcastically. "I didn't know that."

"Drop out of decorating. No one likes you."

"Drop dead. No one likes you."

Juliette's face goes bright red. "Yeah people do. Gabe does. That's why he's dating me and not you!" she hisses.

I feel my cheeks go pink. "I'm not interested him! He's an idiot!" I try to hiss back but it comes out more breathy.

"Sure you do. I may be new but I'm not dumb—"

"I beg to differ," I interrupt.

"Whatever Jo! Just stay away from him!"

"Ooh. Now that's a threat you haven't used before!"

Juliette's about you say something back when another stupid fake smile appears on her face. "Hang this please!" she says in a sing-songy voice. She shoves a small disco ball, like the type you can get at a dollar store, into my hands. I take that as a cue that someone else is around.

"Where?" I ask spinning around.

"Try the balcony...or your forehead." I turn to see Gabe staring at me.

"Ha ha!" I roll my eyes. "That's so funny, but I can't hang this."

"Why? Cause you're a shortie?"

I glare at him. I hate it when people bring up my height. Sure, I'm shorter than most of the other teens my age. Everyone knows that. They're all just too afraid to bring it up because I can still beat the crud out of anyone. I repeat; _anyone_!

"Wow. So the moment you decide to start talking to me again, this is what you say?" I stomp on his foot before walking towards the balcony.

"Hey!" Gabe calls back. "Don't pull that one on me! You're the one who started the whole thing!" I ignore him, like that's anything new.

The steps up the balcony are long, spirally, narrow, and pure white. I wonder how much the drama club paid for this thing. When I get to the top I look around. It's pretty big. I try to hang it up but I can't reach the ceiling. I hear Gabe laughing at me from below. I lift up my fist to emphasize the fact that I'm going to kill him when I get down, then look around for another way to hang it up. There's no other way except...the balcony rail.

Bingo!

I put one foot on the rail. Then another. I know that's probably the dumbest move I could ever possibly make but I had to prove to Gabe that I can do this. I slowly lift up my arm and hang it up.

Score!

"Jo!"

I spin around to see who just called me. Big mistake. My foot slips off the edge, knocking me off balance. I scream. My other foot slips off the rail as well. I'm about to fall when I manage to grab onto it with one hand, pulling myself up so that two hands are keeping me from my doom.

"Ohmigosh!" Kit screams, "Jo!"

I can tell that mine and Kit's scream caught a lot of attention because pretty soon everyone was screaming my name.

"What happened?" Chance asks. "Are you ok?"

"I'm okay!" I yell, "Just get my down from here!"

"Uh...ok! Just hang on!" I recognize that as Jake's voice.

"Really?" I ask. "That's, like, the dumbest thing anyone could ever possibly say to me right now! As you may not have noticed, _if I don't hang on I am going to die_!"

"Wow…" Brittney says. "Even when she's about to die she's mean."

"Let go," Gabe says calmly.

I tighten my grip. "Did I just say Jake said the dumbest thing ever? Cause if I did then I. Meant. Gabe."

"Let's go," he repeats.

"Are you _crazy_?" I screech. My face twists to a look of disbelief.

"Just trust me," Gabe says.

"But I don't trust you!"

"Just do it!"

"No!"

"Come on Jo! What's the worst that could happen?"

"Uh—"

"Never mind. Don't answer that! Just let go."

"Why should I?"

"Because…" Gabe's voice grows softer, "I'll catch you. I won't let you fall. I promise."

I feel my cheeks go pink and I don't know why. Okay, maybe I do kind of know why but I'm not going to tell you. I wait until I'm positive that my cheeks are back to normal before finally letting go. I try not scream as I fall. Gabe said he'd catch me. Will he keep his promise?

He does.

"Uhhh..." I bury my face deep into his chest, not caring that Juliette's probably going to plot some evil revenge just because of it.

"Uh...Jo?" Gabe says.

I look up to see everyone staring at us. It's not as embarrassing as you'd think. It's more...strange and awkward. Gabe puts me down and I heave a sigh of relief. I'm okay!

"Jo!" Juliette yells running over to me. It's then that I realize it was her who called my name when I was standing on the railing. She's the one who could've killed me! Okay, so maybe it was my fault for spinning around to see who is was, but still.

"What?" I say.

"I...I'm so happy you're okay!" she lies.

"Yeah? Well…whatever." I'm not really in the mood to start a fight. Mostly because I nearly fell to my doom, but also because she's going pretend to be all innocent and I'm going to come off as a total jerk. Again.

I receive a few high fives and a couple of whistles, but loads and loads of clapping. I grin. By tomorrow this will be all anyone's talking about. I feel great. On top of the world...

...And then of course Juliette has to come along and ruin it.

The next few minutes of my life comes by in a blur.

Juliette sticking out her foot.

Me not noticing Juliette sticking out her foot.

Me tripping over her foot.

Me crashing into Gabe.

Gabe falling on his back.

Me falling on top of him.

I'm not sure which part was more embarrassing. The fact that I was on top of Gabe or the fact that everyone was watching us. Or perhaps it was the fact that when we fell our lips went crashing into each other.

Yep. That's probably it.

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><p><em>Oooh a cliffie!<em> _How dramatic O.O Anywho, PLEASE REVIEW! XD_

_Thx 4 reading_

_~Beta_


	7. Chapter 6

_Hi! Not much too much to say except that there's a new chapter! (Like you didn't notice...)_

_I hope you enjoy!_

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><p><em>Disclaimer: Idon'townGLC! Try saying THAT ten times fast. ;)<em>

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><p><strong>Jo's POV<strong>

Gabe and I haven't spoken to each other since 'the incident' and I'm starting to see it as some sort of a pattern. This month has been absolutely full of Juliette threats and arguments with Gabe so I'm not surprised that they've both been keeping their distance from me. To be completely honest I'm actually happy I don't have to deal with them anymore. Juliette is a complete and utter brat and Gabe is just plain stupid.

I mean, sure I do kind of miss crashing down on the couch and killing zombies on my game console with him, as well my constant breaking into his house and messing with his head, but besides all that, I'm completely happy. I've still my good friend (who sucks horribly at Die Zombies, Die) Maddi to keep me company.

Speaking of Maddi...

"Yo Jo!" she calls. "Check this out!"

I slowly make my way to the other end of the hallway, dodging all the Crush Day stands and doing my best at ignoring all those 'happy' couples staring dreamily into each other's eyes and kissing and other stupid stuff like that. This, by the way, is very hard to do when you have teens like Nikki and Trevor at your school. They've been together since sixth grade and I swear, I've never seem them do anything besides make out and eat lunch. Funny thing is, when they do each lunch they still manage to gross you out the exact same way.

"What?" I ask as I finally reach Maddi. She's wearing a pink and red tuque in honour of Crush Day week, which has finally started.

Maddi points across the hall and I squint, trying to make out what I'm seeing. There's Jake... standing by my locker... shoving something into it...

"_What is he doing?"_

Maddi shrugs. "I dunno. I think it's one of those Crush Day roses." She turns to me. "You don't think he _likes _you, do you?"

I feel my hands clench into to fists. "He better not. Besides, I thought he was still with Creepy Heather."

Maddi opens her mouth to say something, probably along the line of 'It's Annoying Heather,' but I ignore her. I stomp over to my locker and pick Jake up by the collar. He looks down at me and rolls his eyes.

"What do you want this time, Jo?"

"Just some answers!" I snap dropping him and grabbing the items out of his hands.

The first item is a rose. No, it's not a white 'you're my best friend' rose. It's not a pink 'I have a secret crush on you' rose either. It's a big, fat, red 'I'm madly in love with you' rose. I resist the urge to barf as I place it in my locker and look at the next item.

The next item is a big bag of candy hearts. I open it and pick out a purple heart.

'I like you' I read before shoving it into my mouth. The next one also says 'I like you,' as does the next one... and the next one...

"Wow," Maddi says grabbing the bag out of my hands a picking a handful of my candy hearts, "Jake must really like you."

"Shut up!" I yell before picking up the last item. The last is a small card with a heart on it. I open it and bite my lip. It's written in really fancy handwriting, which I happen to suck at reading.

_Dear Jo,_

_You are the light to my darkness and happiness to my gloom._

_You may not think about me at all but I always think about you._

_Every moment of my life._

_You are, and I quote, 'the very thing that I live for.'_

_Signed, your secret admirer_

"What that heck!" I scream.

Why on earth would he write _that_? I will not be the very thing anyone lives for! If I was then I'd kill myself.

"Why the heck did you give this to me?" I yell, slamming Jake up against the locker. He squirms, making me tighten my grip.

"I didn't!" he defends himself.

"Then why did I spot you trying to put it in my locker?" I snap.

"Lucille told me too! She said she'd do it herself but she was late for science. I didn't want to do it!"

"Then why did you do it?" Maddi asks with her mouth full of pink candy hearts.

"Because she a _girl. _A _pretty _girl!" Jake says. "As a man I have to do what's right!"

I put Jake down and laugh. "A man? Ha! You're hardly a boy!"

* * *

><p>"Yes, I did tell Jake to put it in my locker but I didn't write it," Lucille says putting her books in her locker.<p>

"I know you didn't write it! I just came here because I thought you might know who did!"

Lucille shrugs. "Well Chance was the one who gave it to me."

* * *

><p>"Yeah, I gave it to Lucille," Chance says, taking a basketball out of his locker. "Why?"<p>

"Because I'm trying to figure out which punk at this school wrote!" I snap taking a step forward.

Chance takes a step back, slamming into his own locker. "Well, it wasn't me. I got the Crush Day stuff from Kit."

* * *

><p>"Chance told me the stuff was for you," Kit sighs adjusting her pink messenger bag.<p>

"Where'd you get it from?" I ask.

"Um…Zander? I dunno. I barely understood what he was saying. Something about wanting to see Violet again."

* * *

><p>"Yeah I gave it to Kit because Violet gave it to me to give to you but I really wanted to see Violet again so I wanted to do it really fast but then I saw Kit and thought Kit might do it because she is really nice, well nicer than you (no offence) but anyways my point is that I gave it to Kit and told her to give it to you and then she asked where I got it and I told her I got it from Violet and then she said that she would give it to you if I went back to see Violet but she said it in a really nice way and—hey, where did you go?"<p>

* * *

><p>"I got rid of those stupid flowers, but only because A, They're way too happy for my liking and B, It got that crazy kid away from me for a few extra minutes."<p>

"Cool," I lie. "Now who gave them to you?"

"Heather. 'Hot' Heather or whatever you freaks call her," Violet says before going back to the weird book she's reading. Trust me; you do _not _want to know what it's called.

* * *

><p>"I gave it to Violet," Heather says, popping her gum. "But I got it from Brittney."<p>

* * *

><p>"I got it from Gary."<p>

* * *

><p>"I got it from Zoey."<p>

* * *

><p>"I got it from Ninja...<em>in bed<em>"

* * *

><p>Ninja doesn't say anything. He just points at Gabe.<p>

* * *

><p>"This is pathetic," I sigh, sitting on the steps next to one of the Crush Day signs. "We've been running around the school for, like, an hour and we haven't figured out <em>anything!" <em>

"Except that all of your problems lead to Gabe," Maddi point out, munching on white candy heart. "Man, these candies are addictive!"

"Shut up," I say getting up and reaching into my pocket for a few dollars. Normally I anonymously buy a pink rose for Gabe to freak him out but this year it's different. This year he has an actual girlfriend (something _no one _ever would have guessed) so what's the point?

"Not all my problems lead to Gabe," I say pointing to a red rose.

The good thing about Maddi is that she's usually smart enough not to argue with me about things so she quickly drops the subject. "So…who's the red rose for?"

"My dad," I say filling out the card. I add smiley faces and hearts for emphasize on the 'I love you.'

"Are you sure?" Maddi asks I hand the order form to a blonde girl running the Crush Day stand. She puts the form in a box before closing up the stand.

"Yeah," I say eyeing Maddi suspiciously. "Why?"

"You didn't notice, did you?"

"Notice what?" I ask, getting very annoyed. What is her problem?

Suddenly her face goes pale. At first I think it's from all the candy heart powder until I realize that her eyes are bulging out as well. Then she takes off her tuque. Maddi _never _takes off her tuque. That chic wears the thing to bed every night for crying out loud!

"What's wrong?" I ask her slowly.

Maddi coughs. "Jo... don't freak out but... you didn't send that those roses or that card to your dad," she sighs. "You wrote Gabe's name on the card. The flowers are going to him."

"_What_?!" I shriek, punching her in the arm

Maddi screams and rubs her arm but I'm way too angry to apologize to her now. How stupid am I? If Gabe sees that rose he'll tell everyone and I'll be the laughing stock of the century. I've already been dancing on the line ever since I accidentally kissed him! Not to mention Juliette will freaking kill me! My life is ruined!

Oh, I am so screwed right now.

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><p><em>Let's just assume Jo was so distracted with all the stuff about Gabe that she accidently wrote his name.<em>

_REVIEW PLEASE!_

_~Beta :S_


	8. Chapter 7

_Wow. It's been a really long time since I last worked on this story. I actually wrote half of this chapter and then left it months ago. On the upside school's over so I'll have a lot more free time!_

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><p><strong>Jo's POV<strong>

"Jo. That's probably the most stupid idea I've ever heard in my entire life. Which is why I'm not helping you."

"What do you mean you're not helping me?" I yell into my phone, only to get an annoyed look from my mother who is chopping vegetables.

"I'm not helping you," Maddi repeats, "That's it. We're done. Bye!" Then she hangs up.

I groan and flop down onto the sofa. How could Maddi not want to help me? She goes along with all my other stupid ideas! I already get enough heck about them from Stella (who I sometimes wonder why I'm even friends with). Whatever. Maddi's probably still mad about me punching her. She's such a girl sometimes!

I roll over onto my side. Technically I don't _need _her help. I just think it's safer to go with backup. You know, someone to drag into detention with me when I get caught. Which I won't. But whatevs, I'll just go by myself.

I get up and run upstairs into my room.

* * *

><p>Rope?<p>

Check.

Hair pin?

Check.

Grilled cheese sandwich?

Check!

I zip up my bag and run downstairs.

"_Mom! I'm going to Jake's house!_"

"Alright, Hon! Have fun!"

I smirk. Mom's so easy to trick. I don't think she pays any attention to half of the things that come out of my mouth. I know this because I'm pretty sure that she's fully aware of how much I hate half the kids I mention when she asks me how school went.

She also doesn't seem to realize that I look like I'm about to rob a bank with my awesome all black outfit (courtesy of Ninja).

I slam the front door shut and sneak all the way to my school. And by sneaking I mean walking down the street completely visible. When I get to the school take my bag off and climb up the stairs.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Startled, I spin around. To my surprise, it's no one important.

"Jake? What the heck are you doing here?"

"I've been following you. What heck are you doing here?"

I clench my fists tightly and glare at him. "Don't ever follow me again, you stalker!" I snap. Then I simply add. "What does it look like I'm doing here? I'm breaking in."

Jake's eyes widen. "You do realize that you'll get suspended, right?"

I shrug. "So?"

Jake grins. "I want in! Now! Please? Please? _Please?_"

I shake my head. "Why would I let _you_, of all people, help me when I hate your guts?"

"Because I need to take my sick rebel rep to the next level and breaking into the school at night is the legit thing!"

Remind me never to use the word legit ever again.

"Go home, Jake!" I glare at him.

Jake narrows his eyes at me. "If you don't let me come with you then I'll tell the principal that you broke into the school."

"And I'll beat the pulp out of you."

That gets Jake to back off a little. _No one_ blackmails Jo Keener and gets away with it.

"If you do then I'll cry."

"And I won't care."

"Please?"

"In your dreams Jake!"

"I'll do anything!"

"No."

"Pretty, pretty please?"

"_Never!_"

It goes on like this for a long while. Before I realize it's a lot darker than it was before. I turn to Jake. He's still waiting for me to say no again. I sigh.

"Look Jake. As much as I love to yell, say no, and insult you, this is a big waste of _my_ time. If I say yes then will you shut up?"

"_Yes_! I—"

"But," I interrupt, "there are some important rules you need to follow. First of all, do not speak unless spoken to. Stay behind me. Do not do anything stupid. Listen to everything that I tell you to do. Do not tell _anyone_ that I even spoke to you, let alone let you breathe the same air as me. But, most importantly, _do not_—and I repeat—_not_ tell _anyone_ why or how we broke into the school. Do you hear me, Punk?"

"Yep."

"Then let's go!"

* * *

><p>Breaking into the school is pretty easy. We don't have any good security. I know this because it's not the first time I've broken in. To be fair I don't just randomly do it for the heck of it. I only do it for important stuff... like homework.<p>

Who am I kidding? I _never_ do my homework.

"What exactly are we doing here?" Jake asks, eating my grilled cheese sandwich. I'm not even sure how he got it but I'm way too distracted to spaz at him about it.

"Rule number three; do not speak unless spoken to."

"...I thought that was rule number one?"

"You're breaking it _again!_" I say, opening the door to the band room. That's where all the stupid orders are.

I order Jake to help me search for Gabe's file. Of course he questions me about it but, being the girl that I am, I threaten him into leaving me alone. I _love_ doing that.

"Found it!" he says, handing it to me. I snatch it from him, making him fall over.

"Get up," I growl.

I open it and find a handful of orders for him. "_Ew!_ I never realized how many girls are _actually_ stupid enough to want to date him!"

"Look!" Jake says proudly, "Someone _actually_ sent me flowers this year. Now I don't have to buy myself a bunch and fake it!"

I ignore him and search through for mine. Sure enough I find it and shred it, card and all. I'm about to put it back when an order form falls out. I pick it up. It's Gabe's order to Juliette. Someone must have put it in the wrong file by mistake.

I laugh and shred that as well. Juliette is a jerk. She doesn't deserve flowers, even if she has a boyfriend or not.

"Let's go, Jake." I say.

"One minute. I just want to get a souvenir to remember this moment."

He has got to be kidding me. It's school. All he has to do is go into his desk and grab and pencil and it would _still_ classify as a souvenir. Jake is _such_ an idiot!

I leave him there and go home. I don't care if he gets caught. I came here and did what I had to do.

Maybe I'm not so screwed after all.

* * *

><p><em>Thanks for being patient with me even though I hardly ever update.<em>

_I love you guys for that!_

_~Beta :D_


	9. Chapter 8

_Hey GLC fans! How're ya doing?_

_What do you think of the cover? I think I did pretty good. It may be simple but whatever! :)_

_I'm not sure why but for some reason I'm in a really good mood! I guess that's a good thing._

_Hope you enjoy :D_

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><p><em>Disclaimer: I do not own Good Luck Charlie. I only own Juliette (unfortunately), Maddi, Stella, and Lucille.<em>

**_Fiolet4eva _**_owns Ashley (she's only mentioned in this chapter. She'll most likely appear in the next one.)_

_That's it ;)_

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><p><strong>Jo's POV<strong>

"Whoa. Somebody _loves _you." Stella teases me.

I pull the bouquet of red roses out of my locker. No note this time, just lots and lots of roses.

"I'm not surprised. Who doesn't love a girl who breaks into schools and messes with _Crush_ _Day_ orders?" Maddi replies sarcastically.

I glare at her. "Would you shut up? I said I didn't want anyone else to know about it except you two and Lucille!"

"I know, I know! It's just... I can't believe you actually did that."

I slam my locker shut and roll my eyes. "I told you I would, Maddi. Besides, you know that I've done it before."

Before Maddi can reply, Lucille comes running up to the three of us. She has a huge grin on her face. "You guys are still planning on coming shopping with me for dresses, right?"

The three of us mumble "yes" quietly.

None of us are really that into the whole dress shopping thing. Well, I'm definitely not. Maddi just ticked that she can't wear a tuque to the dance and Stella just doesn't care. Why we agreed to go shopping with Lucille, who knows?

Lucille sighs. "I'm still paying for everything."

Oh yeah, that's why.

Lucille perks right back up. "I invited the new girl, Ashley, from my math class. She said that she might come. She's not sure yet."

Stella nods. "That's cool," then she turns back to me, "Jo Keener. If I ever end up in prison, I'm blaming you."

"Fine, but don't expect me to bail you out."

Lucille taps me on the shoulder. "You can't bail her out when you're in prison too."

We continue to insult one another playfully until someone comes over and hides behind my back. Their touch scares the heck out of me and I end up slapping them across the face. The person falls to the ground.

"Jo!" Stella gives me a look as Lucille runs to help the person up. I put my hands up. "What? It was a reflex!"

"Are you okay, Gabe?" Lucille asks politely.

I nearly choke on my own breath. Gabe? Of course he ends up being the person I slap. Now what? Juliette's going to come and break my nose? Oh wait, they're people around. That'll happen after school.

"What do you want, Gabe?"

"Oh gee, I don't know. Somewhere between running towards you and blacking out I must've forgotten." Gabe replies sarcastically, holding his most likely swollen cheek.

"I'll go get an ice pack from the nurse's office," Lucille says, "Stella, Maddi? Are you guys coming?"

The three of them quickly walk away before I can tell them that they don't need three people to go grab an icepack and that their attempt at getting me and Gabe to talk to each other alone is probably going to end up even worse than if they stay.

I turn back to Gabe. "Seriously, what do you want, Stupid?"

His next words surprise me.

"Juliette's gone psycho!"

Well, no duh Juliette's a psychopath. Glad to know Stupid's finally smartened up a bit. "I know _that_! What did you do to her? Accidentally break her nail or something?"

"No. The rose I got her for _Crush_ _Day_ got lost somewhere between the orders and she's blaming me! She doesn`t believe I really bought her one!"

My face drops for a second. I honestly thought Juliette would blame me for not getting her rose. I mean, Juliette hates my guts and for once it actually _is_ my fault.

"So what? You want a shoulder to cry on because she's about to dump your sorry butt? 'Cause you know, I don't care." My voice doesn't sound nearly as fierce and sarcastic as it normally does.

"No."

"Gabe! I swear that I'll-oh! Hi Jo!" Juliette stomps up to the two of us.

I roll my eyes. "Hi Juliette. Your makeup looks absolutely _gorgeous_ today! The red skin and blue vein popping out of your forehead looks so real!"

Juliette ignores my sarcasm. "Thanks," she says, adjusting her ponytail. Then she continues, "Can you believe boyfriends? They're supposed to care about you and love you but Romeo over there apparently can't do something as simple as buy a rose for me! I mean, I'm sure your boyfriend did-oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you didn't have one."

I'm so tempted to slap that girl harder than I slapped Gabe. Then I get a better idea.

I shove the bouquet of roses in her face. "Actually I-"

Gabe smiles weakly at me. I look away quickly. How could I possibly even consider helping that loser? Then I remember his bruised cheek and how it's my fault. Then I remember how the form got shredded and how that's (also) my fault.

I groan. Curse guilt and my conscience!

"I..._stole _this from your locker as a prank," _a really lame prank_, "...and was going to use them to brag about something." That was the worst lie I've ever told. Brag about something? Really?

"Oh...um...sorry Gabe?"

Gabe stares at me. "Yeah, whatever."

Juliette frowns and grabs the roses from my hands. I shift uncomfortably. Why the heck is Gabe still staring at me?

It's really awkward and quiet until Juliette finally stomps off, mumbling something I can't hear and, honestly, don't care about. When she's gone, Gabe finally opens his mouth to speak.

"...You care!" he teases.

My mouth drops open. "I do _not_! I only did that so I won't be forced to apologize for attacking your cheek!"

"You've dislocated my shoulder before without apologizing," he points out.

"So?"

"So you care!" he wraps his arms around me, I kick him in the knee.

"No I don't!" I snap.

Gabe shrugs as if to say 'whatever' and walks off. Right at that moment Maddi, Stella, and Lucille return with an icepack.

"Sorry we took so long. You won't _believe_ how many people are sick today—hey? Where's Gabe?"

"I don't _care_!" I yell before stomping off.

* * *

><p><em>Huh. That chapter was kind of short...eh.<em>

_That's it for now! Hope you enjoyed. _

_Don't stop believing or reading fanfiction,_

_~Beta XD_

_P.S For the record, I'm a girl. ;)_


	10. Chapter 9

_Hey fanfictioners peoples!_

_I was completely wifi-less for, like, a whole week! Plus we had no cable! I'm not sure how I was even able survive for that long!_

_But now I'm back with another chapter of HCD. Hope y'all enjoy! :)_

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><p><em>Disclaimer: I don't own GLC. I only own Juliette. Ashley belongs to Fiolet4eva.<em>

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><p><strong>Gabe's POV<strong>

Shopping with Juliette is possibly the biggest mistake I have ever made in my entire life.

And that includes the time I super glued Mrs. Dabney to her chair when Mom invited her over for dinner. It was freakin' hilarious, or at least it _was_, up until the point when she actually stood up. I expected the chair to go up with her but it didn't... and neither did her skirt.

...Never again...

Anyways, I've been shopping with girls before (I have an older sister and a mother to force me into that kind of stuff, as well as Charlie who almost always gets her way) so I was fully prepared for the torture that came with accepting Juliette's invitation. And by prepared, I mean I had my phone fully charged and in my pocket.

Unfortunately, there aren't enough apps in the world to prepare me for _this_ kind of torture.

"What do you think of these dresses, Gabe?" Juliette asks, lifting up two dresses that look exactly the same.

"...Great." That's a definite lie. It looks like one of those over-the-top kind of dresses Teddy's friend, Ivy, would wear, and that's _not _a compliment.

"I know they're great!" Juliette snaps, "I meant, which one is better?"

Like I said before, they look exactly the same. Even Toby's smart enough to know that and he's only one.

"The first one?"

"Are you crazy!? The first one hardly brings out my eyes!"

O-kay? "Well if you knew which one you were going to pick then why did you ask?"

Juliette tucks a strand of her long hair behind her ear and sighs. "Because you're my boyfriend. You're pathetic opinion matters."

"Pathetic opinion?! You're the one who asked!"

Juliette's eyes narrow. "Don't yell at me! It's not my fault that you never know the right thing to say!"

This again? No way am I sitting through another one of those "you're a bad boyfriend" speeches. Like the first one wasn't bad enough.

I stand up and kiss her on the forehead. "Sorry." Juliette shrugs me off.

I sigh. "Look, I'm going to go grab us something to eat. What do you want, like a burger or something?"

"Ew, burgers are so American. Try something exotic, like sushi."

Sushi? "You are American," I say dumbly.

"Whatever. Just go."

So I do. Anything to get away from Juliette long enough for me to actually breathe real air that isn't being choked by her lavender scented perfume.

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><p><strong>Jo's POV<strong>

"I officially hate shopping!" I declare, entering a store with a very French sounding name.

"Join the club," Ashley grins.

The two of us managed to ditch Maddi, Stella, and Lucille, claiming that we saw a cute purple dress that I just _had _to buy. Now I just have to find some cute purple dress, which will be pretty easy considering that I don't care what I wear to the dance at this point. I could go naked for all I care.

...Actually, take that back. That's just weird.

"How about this dress? It's purple."Ashley lifts up a purple off-the-shoulder one with _way _too much glitter.

I check the price tag. "Yeah, and also meant for billionaires. I can't afford any of this crud."

"Then let's go to a cheaper store-"

"Like the flea market? I saw a hobo sack screaming your name when I went to drop off my trash yesterday."

I spin around. Of course Juliette's standing there holding a shopping bag with a dress probably twice the price of the one Ashley pointed out to me. I swear this girl is, like, stalking me or something.

"No, actually I was meaning to buy something somewhere else in the mall," I say as calmly as I can, "I don't do flea markets." I leave out that the flea market is where I got this adorable yellow hoodie for obvious reasons.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you like that."

I'm about to ask why she's suddenly being nice but then remember that I'm with Ashley.

"Yeah. Whatever." I grumble bitterly. What I need right now is anything that will get me out of breathing the same air as this little freak.

Cue the awkward silence.

"Oh," Juliette pretends to notice Ashley for the first time, "Hi. I didn't notice you there Shelly-"

"It's Ashley-"

"Whatever."

More awkward silence.

Ashley nudges me. "We should probably go. Lucille must be wondering where we are by now."

"You girls can't leave now! We have so much to catch up on!"

"I don't know you."

"And I don't like you."

Juliette scowls and drags us out of the store and to a nearby bench. "So, are you excited about the dance? I am! So is Gabe, _my boyfriend_," Juliette give me one of those "in your face" side glances. I roll my eyes in response.

Juliette continues. "Do you girls have dates yet?"

I groan. Juliette knows that I don't have a date yet. Must she remind me every chance I get? Who am I kidding? She's Juliette. Of course she does.

"Yeah, actually we do. All of us do." Ashley smirks proudly.

Wait, what?

Apparently I'm not the only one surprised by this new bit of information. Juliette raises her eyebrow in shock. "Really? Who?"

"You'll have to wait and see," Ashley stands up, "Come on, Jo. We have some shopping to do."

The two of us walk off calmly. It's not until we're completely out of sight that I flip.

"Are you crazy? What do you mean we have dates? No we don't!"

"Chill, Jo. You're the only one who really needs to find a date."

That's true. Lucille finally got Jeremy to ask her out (which I still think her whole crush on him is messed up considering she's one of the prettiest girls at school and could have basically any guy she wants) and Maddi is going with one of the Ryans (don't know or care which one). Stella has a bunch of nerdy guy friends fawning over her so she could easily go with any of the snot picking weirdos. So basically it is only me.

"What about you?"

"That girl doesn't care about me. She doesn't even know my name. Besides, I've met people. Chance has a lot of cool friends."

I stare at Ashley. As much as I admire the fact that she lied to save my butt I still think she's crazy. No guy in their right mind would ever go out with me. The ones that don't already hate me/are scared to death by me probably all have dates by now.

"It'll be fine, Jo! You're pretty. And if it doesn't work out I'll be happy to kick brunette butt."

I smirk. "There's no point in trying to convince me, Ashley. You already told Crazy over there that I had a date."

"Her facial expression was hilarious!"

"Yeah, yeah. But if I end up being the talk of the century once again, I'm taking my anger out on you!"

Ashley cocks her head slightly. "Again? What happened the first time?"

I think back to the day I fell off the fake balcony at school. Then..._that _happened.

"...Stuff. Let's go. I still need to buy a purple dress before we can look for the rest of the gang."

Then I need to find a boy stupid enough to go to the dance with me.

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><p><strong>Gabe's POV<strong>

I meet Juliette out in the parking lot. She has twelve shopping bags with her, which is funny because she told me that she was only going to buy a dress, shoes, and those stupid costume masks since those were now "required".

"Where's your brother?" she asks me.

I shrug. PJ said he'll pick us up in an hour but he's late. Not like I expected him to actually be on time or anything. I'm not even sure if he knows how long an hour is.

Juliette glances at me, as if expecting me to say something, but I don't really feel like talking to her right now.

It's weird. At first she was all I could think about but now all I can think about is getting away from her. I mean, I still like her. I'm pretty sure of that. I just... need my space?

I dunno. A few days ago I asked Hot Heather if I could keep my textbooks in her locker because Jake totally trashed mine, and Juliette freaked. Heather and I have a locker agreement because of an incident that happened at the beginning of the year (one that I'd rather not go into details about). Juliette, of course, didn't know that since she's new and accused me of cheating on her. Heather just kind of stood there, staring at Juliette like she was crazy or something. It was really messed up.

"Did you hear that Jo Keener has a date to the dance?"

Huh? Jo... what?

"No, where did you hear that?"

"Her new friend Ashanti told me."

"You mean Ashley?"

"Whatever," she continues,"Wouldn't tell me who though. Treated it like some big secret or something."

I'm not sure why hearing about Jo's date bugged me, but it did. A lot. I don't care what she does. According to her, we're no longer friends. Not that we ever really were to begin with.

"I saw them at the mall," Juliette adds.

"What? When?"

"When you went to get our lunch. She was searching for a purple dress for Crush Day."

I try to imagine Jo in a purple dress. I can only remember ever seen her in a dress twice. Once when I was forced into going to that cotillion with her and the other time when we were in a stupid school play.

A nearby car honks really loudly.

"_Gabe_!"

It's Teddy. I'm guessing PJ's been busy doing whatever it is that people like PJ do.

Juliette and I cross the parking lot and hop into the back seat.

"Sorry I took so long. I was with Spencer when PJ called. Apparently he's "not in a good enough condition to drive". Don't ask what he means by that because I have no idea. Anyways, how are you two lovebirds doing?"

"Great! Look at the dress I bought for the dance!" Juliette hands Teddy bag number four.

"It's very... sparkly," Teddy replies, peeking inside.

I groan. "Could you please just drive us home?"

"Okay, okay! Sheesh, what's your problem today?" Teddy adjusts the rear view mirror.

"Nothing. I'm just tired."

"Oh look! There's your friend Jo," Teddy says, completely ignoring me, "Maybe we should give her a ride-"

"_No_!" Juliette and I glance at each other. Between the two of us it's hard to tell whose scream was louder.

"...Jinx."

Juliette clamps her mouth shut, crosses her arms, and leans back in her seat.

"There's no need to give Jo a ride home. Really. Juliette met up with her today. Her mom's picking her up, right Jules?"

Juliette nods like crazy, her dark hair slapping her cheeks.

Teddy blinks at us for a moment. "Okay, I'm not really sure what's going on between the three of you but if it's going to stop me from doing a good deed then I'm going to ignore it." She honks the horn again, "_Jo_! Do you need a ride?"

Jo looks up from her cell phone. "No! I'm walking!"

"Don't be silly! Get in!" Teddy yells.

"I'm not supposed to hop into cars with strangers!" Jo yells back.

"Come on, Jo!"

Jo sighs and walks over to our car. She sits in the passenger seat. Her facial expression practically screams annoyance.

"So Jo," Teddy says, finally pulling out from the parking lot, "Who were you at the mall with?"

"My friends. They all got rides home."

"Did you get a dress for Crush Day yet?"

Jo eyes Teddy suspiciously. Not that I blame her. "Yeah."

"Cool. So, do you have a date yet?"

"...Yeah. I do."

So it's true. Jo really does have a date. It's not just one of those annoying tests Juliette sometimes does to make sure that I don't care about any girl that isn't her. It's legit. If it bugged me hearing the words coming out of Juliette's mouth than hearing Jo admit it herself flat out ticked me off.

Jo turns to look and me and Juliette. "What's up with your girlfriend? She's being uncharacteristically quiet right now."

"Oh, Jules has been-uh," What was I even talking about?

"Gabe jinxed her," Teddy cuts in, giving me a side glance.

"Oh."

The rest of the car ride is pretty silent. Teddy politely asks Jo questions about school and stuff, which Jo surprisingly answers. Teddy doesn't really have much to say to Juliette or me because she sees us often. Jo doesn't have anything to say to me or Juliette either, which isn't surprising since the relationship between the three of us has been pretty rocky since day one. Juliette doesn't say anything because she's jinxed. Not that I expect her to have much to say either.

As for me, I'm silent as well. I'm just trying to figure out what the heck is going on with me.

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><p><em>I felt like we weren't getting enough GabeJuliette interaction. I mean, we know that the two of them are together, but how is there relationship turning out? Is it as perfect as it seems? etc. So I came up with this chapter. Not much, but good enough to satisfy my many questions that I probably shouldn't be asking considering I'm the one writing the story in the first place. XD_

_I didn't mean to jump POVs like that. I'm not sure how but it just turned out that way. Interesting attempt at writing from a dude perspective, though. I have no comment as to how I did._

_I hope Ashley was sorta in character. If not than I really tried my best!_

_So, yeah. That's basically it. Thx for being patient with me and my oh so slow updates._

_Bye for now,_

_~Beta :D_


	11. Chapter 10

_Hey everyone! It's BETA!_

_There's not much to say here except that I'm posting a new chapter of Happy Crush Day (like you couldn't tell...)_

_ I am expecting about two to four chapters after this one, depending on how I divide it all up. After that the story will most likely be over._

_So...yeah. Hope you enjoy! :) (I'm sorry. I feel really tired right now)._

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><p><strong>Gabe's POV<strong>

"Hey Gabe," Hot Heather says walking up to me. "Where's your girlfriend?"

I check my watch and shrug. Juliette was supposed to meet here a while ago. She's the reason I came to school this early in the first place. If I'd known she was going to be this late then I wouldn't have bothered begging my dad to drive me here earlier in the first place ("sudden liking to school", my butt). "I have no idea."

Heather adjusts her scarf. She obviously doesn't really care where Juliette is. "Whatever. Braid my hair. Please?"

I groan. "Can't you do it?"

"I let you use my locker," She points out.

I roll my eyes and take her blonde hair out of its perfect ponytail to French braid it. Ever since Jo forced me to braid her hair that time our class went swimming I've been getting that request a lot. Not like I care. I guess having two sisters does come with its perks.

"So, how are things with Juliette going?"

"Great," I lie.

"She seems nice, you know, despite her threatening to chop off my locks if I ever "flirt" with you again."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that."

"It's cool. Just keep her away from my hair...and scissors."

We both laugh. It's so weird that I used to have a crush on her, especially since we managed to remain pretty good friends despite her hanging out with Kit who—although she denies it—still doesn't like me very much.

"Gabe," Heather asks, "Can I be honest with you?"

"Would you rather lie to me?"

"I'm being serious, Gabe."

"Fine then," I shrug. "Go for it."

"You should break up with Juliette."

My whole body freezes. I did_ not_ expect her to say that.

"...Why?"

"You two don't really...seem right for each other. Juliette's just a dark haired, less organized, crazier version of me and you're you."

Not exactly the answer I was looking for. "What happened to opposites attract?"

"Opposites are Zander and Violet. They're full of love and hate. You and Juliette are not opposites. Besides, you're the type of guy who needs a girl similar to you in terms of personality."

I don't like where this conversation is going but I know exactly where it's going to end up. It's going to end up the same way the conversations I've had with pretty much every other girl in my grade ended up. "Like who?" I ask anyway.

"Like Jo."

I knew it. I don't get why does everyone thinks I should get together with Jo. Are we really _that_ alike? I mean, Heather doesn't even _like _Jo that much. More importantly, I don't like her that way. I hardly like her in a friend sort of way (you can blame the black eyes she used to give me).

"You're kidding me, right?" I ask, finishing the braid and tying it off, "I do _not _like Jo."

Heather turns to face me and rolls her eyes. "_Sure _you don't, Gabe."

"I'm serious, Heather! If I liked Jo then why would I be dating Juliette?"

Heather shrugs and pulls a stick of gum out of her sweater pocket. "You should be asking yourself that question, Gabe. Not me." She rips the gum in half, "Want some?"

I shake my head. "Does everyone think that I like Jo?"

"Why do you care? It shouldn't matter what other people think. You don't really like her—or so you claim—so that's that. End of discussion, right?"

"Yeah but... let's say in an alternate universe where I _do _like her—"

Heather's eyes light up the way Charlie's do whenever she gets a new doll. "I could find out for you!"

"I'd rather not. If you've forgotten, I have a girlfriend who could pop up any second and cut your pretty blonde hair. Besides—" I pause and put hand on her shoulder, "—Jo doesn't like you."

"No, _really_? I had _no _idea—"

"You should leave before Juliette comes," I interrupt, "I'm serious about her showing up any moment now. She was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago." A bit of an over exaggeration but it's not like Heather's going to know.

"Get rid of me, much? I get how it is now, Gabe. You can no longer be seen with me anymore even though I'm way more popular than you'll ever be. I'll see you at my funeral." Heather winks at me and walks off.

As if on cue, I spot Juliette walking towards me. She, as usual, doesn't look too happy. I really hope she didn't see me chatting with Heather. I'd hate to see my awesome braiding skills go to waste.

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><p><strong>Jo's POV<strong>

"Hey Jo," 'Hot' Heather says, walking up to me. I slam my locker shut.

"What do you want, Blondie?"

"I just had a really interesting conversation with Gabe and—"

"Sorry Heather but I really don't care what you and Gabe were talking about. If you haven't heard, Gabe and I are no longer speaking to each other." At least, I don't _think _we are. Our relationship is complicated.

Heather takes a step back from me and tosses her braid, which has "Gabe" written all over it, over her shoulder. "O-kay? Look, I was just wondering if you, by any chance, have a small crush on Gabe."

"For your information _Hot _Heather, he has a girlfriend and I have a date to the dance that's twice a cute as Gabe will ever be."

"You do? I thought that was just a rumour."

"Well you thought wrong!"

Heather glares at me. I glare back. She's starting to make me feel a bit uncomfortable but I manage to stand my ground. There's no way I'm letting freakin' Hot Heather take me down. No matter how awkward she's starting to make me feel.

Finally she speaks. "You're bluffing."

"I'm what?"

_"_Puh-_lease,_ Jo. You're so easy to read. You might as well have written 'I'm a big fat liar' on your forehead with a permanent red marker."

What the heck is she talking about?

"You don't really have a date, do you?" she continues, "You just made it up to get Gabe jealous."

I snort. "That is so not true." This technically isn't a lie. I actually said that to get Juliette to shut up but, like every other kid in the school, Heather probably still thinks that I like Gabe even though I obviously don't. I mean, I _did _in, like, elementary school. Back when I was stupid and didn't realize that most boys are idiots. No, wait. It was in elementary school when I thought most boys were idiots. Now I just think Gabe's an idiot.

Wait—what was I even talking about?

"You don't have to lie to me, Jo. I know that you like him."

Oh yeah.

"No I don't," I snap. I storm off but she follows me.

"Look, I was just going to say that—since you're obviously lying—I can help you get a fake date. I know a few guys desperate enough to want to date you!"

She hands me a giant pink folder that I never realized was in her hand.

"Well, I arranged them in alphabetical order by last name—'cause first name is _so _unorganized—and then I colour coordinated their personalities and cliques and other stuff. If there's a blue dot in the corner then their sporty, orange means nerdy, etc, etc, pink is _obviously _popular... just be careful not to mix it up with red 'cause," Heather lowers her voice, "_they're the pervs_."

"Wait, you keep a folder specifically for girls looking for dates?"

Heather shrugs. "I keep folders on all the kids at this school."

"But that's, like, a gazillion kids!"

Heather rolls her eyes. "That's why I also organize them by grade," She says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Now, keep in mind that if they have a green sticky note then it means that they're taken." She flips to the purple section. _Desperate._

I'm literally speechless, which is a surprising first. I'm not even sure why I have nothing to say; it could just as much be the fact that Hot Heather keeps better track of the students than the school does as it could simply be the fact that she bothering to help me in the first me.

Heather doesn't seem to notice my silence as she continues to blab away. "...Keep in mind that the desperate section can be a bit intense so if you prefer bad boys... do you prefer bad boys? Cause if you do—"

"Go away."

"—they have black dots. Sheesh, Jo. I was just wondering."

"Wonder somewhere else then. Your face is killing my mood."

Heather pursues her lips but walks off. It's when I really realize how rudely I treated her. I mean, she did help me, kind of. I almost feel like apologize but, to be completely honest, I'm not _that _sorry. Heather may seem sweet now but the moment she gains a role of authority or any power over someone else she goes from Hot Heather to Crazy-Psycho-Don't-Tell-Me-What-To-Do-Because-I'm- Gonna-Tell-You-What-To-Do Heather.

Plus she's semi-friends with Brittney and Brittney makes me want to strangle a puppy.

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><p>"Guess <em>what,<em> _what, what_!" I yell as I run to Ashley's locker the next morning.

"_What, what, what_?" she replies, adjusting her green headband.

I pause for dramatic effect. "I...have a _date, date, date_!"

Ashley gasps. "Really? _Who, who, who_?"

"Some private school nerd," I shrug.

The best part about it; I didn't even need Heather's stalker book! Yes, he was _in _the stalker book, but that's obviously no surprise. I just walked right up to him and said hi. Okay, fine. I told him to beat it when he was sitting in my usual seat at Kwikki Chikki, but that's not the point!

"So...what's his name?"

What?

"Um..." I bite my lip. "Don't know. I think his name is Austin or something."

Ashley furrows her brows. "What's he like?"

I shrug. "He's all awkward—more so than Stella's friends—and speaks dork fluently."

"Is he cute?"

"...Meh. I can look at his face without throwing up. Does that count?"

"How did you ask him out?"

Finally a question I can actually answer. "I didn't. _He _asked _me_!" I ignore the fact that asking me to the school dance when he doesn't even go to our school makes absolutely no sense since I think he mentioned having a brother or a cousin or something that goes to this school.

Ashley grins. "The fact that you know nothing about him scares me a little but the dance is going to be so much fun!"

For the first time, I actually agree. About the dance part, I mean. At first I thought the whole thing was stupid, but maybe it won't be so bad after all. Forget Juliette and Gabe and my secret admirer. Forget the stupid purple dress I bought (when things can't get any worse—it's strapless) and the fact that the dance has the absolute worst theme known to mankind; masquerade French Halloween Valentine with a balcony.

Maybe this dance will be fun.


	12. Chapter 11

_Hey, it's BETA._

_I feel like this chapter has too much OC action. To be fair, it's just the usual four; Lucille, Stella, Maddi, and (of course) Juliette. I dunno. I'm probably just overreacting._

_Anyways, enjoy!_

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><p><strong>Jo's POV<strong>

If there's one thing I hate more than school dances, it's getting ready for school dances. Everyone makes such a big deal out of it. It's not like we're, I don't know, going to _prom_ or anything like that. I also don't get why we need two hours to get ready. It hardly takes me ten minutes to get ready for school.

"This isn't just a dance, Jo." Lucille explains after I vent my annoyance out to her. "This is _the _dance. We have to dress our best. It's an unspoken rule. Now please stay still."

Lucille is doing something complicated-looking to my hair since she was, unsurprisingly, the first to finish getting ready. Maybe because she's used to putting on makeup and making herself look gorgeous. I mean, she does this kind of thing every single day.

I do have to admit though; Lucille looks exceptionally good today. She straightened her hair and is wearing a pink and green floral dress with thin straps. Her brown belt matches her brown heeled boots perfectly. Of course, I don't mention that to her. I'd rather not get into a deep conversation over the glory of belts.

Instead I finger my silver heart-shaped necklace. I still can't believe my mom gave it to me. Not only does it look expensive, but I don't wear jewellery that often.

I hear the door creak open and I know that Stella has _finally _exited the bathroom. I swear she's been in there for the past hour.

"How do I look?" she asks and does a little complimentary spin.

"Gorgeous," Lucille gushes as I give Stella a thumbs up.

Stella looks very different, and it's not just because she's all dressed up in her off-the-shoulder mint green dress and white flats. It's not her curled hair (which is _not_ in its usual pigtails) either. It takes me a moment, but then it hits me. Stella's actually wearing contacts! She hates contacts more than I hate school dances.

"My eyes feel weird," She says as if to prove my point.

Then Maddi walks in. She's still wearing her _Cheerios _t-shirt and blue sweatpants. I'll bet my life that Lucille is frowning at this.

"Which tuque should I wear?" She asks, holding two up. Both of them are black but one is studded and the other isn't.

"Definitely the studded one," Stella replies.

Maddi nods and walks away.

"How was she able to convince you to let her wear a tuque to the dance?" I ask Lucille with interest. I know that Lucille was very anti-tuque-wearing. I also know that Maddi is very anti-letting-anyone-see-her-without-a-tuque. I'm not sure how she's able to do this since we're not even allowed to wear hats in school but whatever.

Lucille holds up a pair of black pumps. "Maddi said she'd wear these," she says with a shrug.

I resist the urge to laugh. Maddi in heels? She can be so stupid sometimes. No matter how many times Lucille says no to you, when the time comes she'll say yes because she is _way _too nice to do otherwise.

A few minutes later, Maddi returns in a strapless magenta dress with black lace and a giant black bow in the center. Her hair is left down in her usual messy blonde waves and she is wearing the studded tuque like we requested.

"You look great!" Lucille smiles and Stella and I agree.

Maddi beams. "I feel great!"

I feel nauseous. When it comes down to it, Maddi can be pretty girly when she wants to be. And by that I mean when she's not skateboarding or hanging out with the Ryans. Or me, I suppose.

"There! Jo, your hair has now officially been curled to perfection!" Lucille is beaming from ear to ear. I can't remember the last time she's been this happy.

"Wow, Jo. You look amazing," Maddi says.

"Like a princess," Stella adds.

"More like a girl resisting the urge to vomit," I mutter to myself before standing up and stretching. I feel like I've been sitting in that chair for years.

Lucille purses her lips. "Something is not quite right."

"Is it her shoes?" Stella asks.

"Hey! Don't diss my shoes!" I snap, staring down at them. They're purple and, unlike everyone else's, not the kind you would normally wear with a dress. But so what? If they honestly thought I was going to wear heels or something, they were kidding themselves.

"No...not the skate shoes..." Lucille disappears into her closet and reappears a few seconds later with something hidden behind her back.

"Close your eyes."

I roll my eyes but close them anyway. I feel messing with my hair again and I assume she's putting a flower or headband in it or something.

"Okay...now open your eyes!"

It's...a tiara.

_Wait, what?_

I blink. Lucille just put a silver tiara in my hair and she expects me to wear it. In public.

You have got to be _freakin_' kidding me.

"There is no way in heck I am wearing this thing to school!" I shriek. "I have a reputation to maintain! I am Jo. Just Jo. Not Jo the freakin' _princess!_"

"Would you calm down?" Stella asks. "It's just for one night. Besides, with all the other kids around, no one will even notice you. Not to mention that we're going to be wearing masks..."

As if on cue, all three of my friends put their masks on at the exact same time. Stella's is white, Maddi's is black, and Lucille's is green. Maddi hands me my purple one.

I glare at them. "You guys had this all planned out, didn't you."

Stella smiles in response. "Yes, yes we did."

"I hate you."

"Whatever Jo. You can hate on us later. Right now we need to get you to _Austin_." Maddi says Austin in a sing-song voice before making demented-looking kissy faces at me.

As we file out of Lucille's bedroom I can't help but to take a quick peek at myself through her full view mirror. I look like a complete stranger. My hair's up, but not in its usual ponytail or messy bun. I'm wearing actual makeup (more than just mascara). It's light makeup but makeup nonetheless.

I take a closer look. Stella did a fantastic job on my eye shadow. For someone who's not allowed to wear makeup on a daily basis, she sure knows what she's doing.

As I stare at myself I start to wonder, '_maybe I'm not Jo Keener_.' Maybe an alien swooped down to earth in a UFO and swapped our brains when we were asleep. No, that sound like the kind of stupid thing Jake would say, and I am far more intelligent than Jake.

"Jo! Are you coming?"

And right now my intelligence is telling me to get the heck out of Lucille's bedroom.

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><p><strong>Juliette's POV<strong>

I am sitting outside waiting for Gabe. With much persuasion, I was able to convince him to meet me outside the school instead of picking me up at my house. Even though picking me up would be _much _more romantic, I need to make sure that everything is going according to plan.

At this moment, I am starting to wonder if there ever was a plan to begin with. I do not see Austin, which is strange because Austin is never late for anything. I also do not see Jo.

'_Jo should easy to stop. Just look for the girl in the cheapest clothes_.'

"Excuse me?" I tap the shoulder of a short with a purple mask and a tiara, "Hi, I'm Juliette. You look adorable, BTW. I was wondering if you happen to know—"

The girl removes her mask. It's Jo. Her height should have been a giveaway.

"Aw..." she says with a fake pouty face, "Gabe stood you up, didn't he? You poor thing."

I suck in my breath to hide my shock. There is no way Jo came to the dance looking better than me. I took a spa day to make myself look this good. Jo probably got a couple of amateur friends to do her hair and makeup!

"No, Gabe did not stand me up," I say calmly. If I want this to work then I have to be nice to Jo. "We decided to meet at the school. I was actually looking for you."

"Why?"

"I feel really bad about the way I've been treating you. The truth is I was jealous of you and Gabe. The two of you have such a strong relationship. I was afraid he would leave me for you."

Jo looks around suspiciously. "Drop the act, Juliette. There's no one listening to us."

"What act?" I ask innocently. "My words are genuine. I thought you were after my Gabe but alas, I was wrong. You have you own date now, do you not?"

"I do...but I still think you're insane and don't trust you!"

I take a deep breath. "You don't have to forgive me. I just want you to know that I am deeply sorry for the things I said to you, and faking my sprained ankle, and everything else that I have done wrong. I hope someday in the future we can look past our differences and become friends."

I walk away from her. _Become friends? _As if that is ever going to happen. After tonight, she'll probably never show her face in public again. Which is good...for the public.

I take my cell phone out of my silver clutch and tap out a quick text message to Austin.

**ARE YOU STILL JO'S DATE?**

I get a reply almost instantly.

**YES, BUT I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY WE ARE DOING THIS TO HER. SHE SEEMS LIKE A VERY NICE GIRL.**

I roll my eyes. Austin is so naïve.

**THAT'S WHAT SHE WANTS YOU TO THINK. SHE'S PLANNING SOMETHING AGAINST ME. SHE'S PROBABLY GOING TO HUMILIATE YOU TOO. NOW DON'T YOU DARE HAVE SECONDS THOUGHTS! STICK TO THE PLAN OR ELSE...**

_Send. _I pause for a moment, and then add something else to prove that I am the good one and am on his side.

**LUV YA AUSTIN ;) BEST COUSIN EVAH!**

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><p><em>Gasp! DRAMA. Some serious stuff is gonna go down at this Crush Day dance.<em>

_Hope you enjoyed!_

_~BETA :)_


	13. Chapter 12

_Hey guys!_

_Here's the official twelfth chappie of HCD! It's pretty interesting if you ask me. Then again I wrote it so..._

_Hope you like it!_

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><p><strong>Jo's POV<strong>

I hate to admit it, but this Crush Day dance isn't _all_ that bad.

The decorations are okay (although that's probably because I helped with them), the snacks are edible (you can't go wrong with chips and soda), and the songs don't make me want to rip my ears off despite the fact that 85% of them were sang by annoying boy bands.

Austin's okay. While he is a total nerd, he's also kind of funny. I will admit that I have laughed at a couple of his jokes. You know, the ones that actually made sense. He's also _kind of_ cute, which is a bonus.

As for Juliette, well, I haven't seen much of her since the whole 'apology' thing. In fact, I haven't seen any of her at all, which is strange since I would assume she'd be the center of attention with that dress someone glitter puked on.

I try not to think too much about it. I mean, who cares what Juliette's up to? Probably rubbing noses with Gabe in a corner or something equally gross.

Gag. This is why I try not to think about it.

"Hey," I tap Austin on the shoulder. "I'm going to go over to the snack table. Do you want anything?"

"Well, I am feeling quite parched. A beverage would be delightful, thank you."

See? This is what I mean when I say he's a total nerd.

"O-kay?" I shake my head, "I'll be right back."

Making my way to the snack table, I spot Stella snacking on some carrots. I wave at her and she waves back.

"Hey, Jo!" She greets me. "Are you having fun?"

I shrug. "I've been to worse school dances than this one so…yeah." I smile. "I'm having a pretty good time…don't tell anyone I said that though."

Stella smiles and nods as she peers over my shoulder. "Look, there's Juliette."

"What, where?" I spin around and spot her talking to someone who kind of looks like Jake. I doubt it's him though because, well, he's Jake. Gabe is nowhere in sight.

She turns our direction and smirks. From this distance it's hard to tell whether it's a 'hey best friend' smirk or a 'you're such a loser' smirk. Either way, she still makes me want to barf.

"Ah! My eyes! It's so blinding! It burns!"

Stella cocks her head. "What? Juliette's dress?"

"No, Juliette's face."

Stella rolls her eyes. "Come on, Jo. Just because she's mean to you doesn't mean you have to be mean back. It's like lying or revenge. You know what they say, two wrongs don't make a right."

Okay, Stella and I have known each other for at least four years. How is it possible that she _still_ doesn't get me?

I scoop some of the red punch into a plastic cup and take a sip. "I don't even know what's going on between the two of us anymore. She came up to me earlier. Told me she was sorry and wanted to be friends or whatever. Stupid, right?"

Stella shrugs. "I don't know, Jo. Maybe she was being genuine. I mean, people _can_ change."

I snort. "Yeah, _people _can. If you haven't noticed, Juliette isn't human. Nobody can be that pretty and perfect and a total jerk at the same time. She forgives me about as much as I love this dress." I pour a second cup of punch for Austin.

"Stop cracking jokes about your dress," Stella scolds. "You look amazing."

"Yeah, yeah. 'Like a princess'," I roll my eyes. I really don't feel like talking to her anymore so I wave goodbye and walk back to the bench where I left Austin. He isn't there.

"Austin?" I put our drinks down on the bench and look around. He's nowhere in sight.

Okay, he did _not _just ditch me, did he?

No. Austin wouldn't do that. He's too nice. He probably…I don't know…just went to the bathroom or got lost or something. What? It makes sense. After all, he doesn't actually go to our school.

I feel a tap on my shoulder a spin around, hoping that it's Austin. It's not. Instead, it's Gabe. Go figure.

"What?" I ask coldly. I'm in no mood to talk to Gabe right now.

"Have you seen my girlfriend? Long brown hair, sparkly dress. It's not very hard to miss her."

Like I don't know what Juliette looks like. I turn back to where Stella and I last saw her talking to not-Jake. She's no longer there.

"Nope."

"Oh." Gabe actually looks kind of upset. Not that I care or anything. Serves him right for dating a girl who treats me like trash. I already having to deal with all the constant jokes Gabe himself makes about me.

Speaking of which…throughout the entire thirty seconds Gabe and I have been talking to each other, he hasn't cracked a single joke. Why hasn't he cracked a single joke? I mean, I'm wearing a stinkin' dress for crying out loud!

A sudden change in heart for Juliette is bad enough, but a sudden change in heart for Gabe is near-impossible. The only reason why he wouldn't make fun of me was, well, if I wasn't me.

Last time I checked, I was still me. Unless he doesn't recognize me in this dress and mask, but that's just—

….And he doesn't recognize me in this dress and mask, does he?

Dang it. My own enemy doesn't recognize me. You'd think my height and voice would be a dead giveaway. I guess I could use this to my advantage though. Somehow….

"This song is dedicated to all those lovely couples out there," the DJ puts on a slow song I don't recognize.

I groan. If there's one think I've learned from the few school dances I've been to, it's that the last thing you ever want to do is to be standing in the middle of the dance floor without somebody to dance with. Like what I'm doing right now.

I turn to walk away but Gabe tugs on my arm. "Hey, wanna dance?"

He's kidding himself. Please tell me he's freakin' kidding himself. Last time we danced together was at that stupid cotillion and he spazzed out the first time because I admitted that I liked it a little more than I probably should have.

I was in, what, sixth grade when that happened? When I was stupid enough to consider Gabe crush worthy. I have matured a lot since then. I am not dancing with Gabe and if he knew who I was, he wouldn't dance with me either.

On the other hand, Juliette would freak if she saw us together. And that would make me feel good on the inside. Besides, I doubt I'll bump into Austin any time soon.

"Sure. Let's dance." The song is only going to be about three minutes anyway. I doubt anything big can happen within that short time period.

I awkward wrap my arms around his neck (the first time I've ever done it while not trying to strangle him) and he touches my waist. It's so believably awkward, but at the same time there's something nice about it.

He grabs my hand and tries a couple of spins to make things more interesting, causing me to giggle. Yes, I actually giggle. Lame, right? But I can't help myself. It's like sixth grade all over again.

_Sixth grade…_

I had a small crush on him back then, but I'm totally over it now. Why wouldn't I be? It's been years, Gabe is a jerk, he also has a girlfriend, and I don't care.

I don't.

"Are you okay?" Gabe asks.

I nod. _Just in deep thought on how I don't have a crush on you. _If did then I would be melting over how brown his eyes are. Which I'm not, even though they remind me of chocolate and I can't stop staring into them.

And he stares back.

And it's weird. And it's awkward. And I love it so much that I pull him closer.

And then I guess I got caught up in the moment, because I have no idea what the heck happened next. But I bet you do.

"_Oh my gosh_," I breath when he pushes me away. What the heck did I just do? "I-I got to go!"

"Wait—"

I ignore Gabe as I run. Suddenly, wearing skate shoes felt like an even better decision than it did before. I doubt I would have been able to run even half the speed that I did if I had worn heels. Not even a quarter of the speed.

I run until I reach a dead end. I never realized how big the gym was until now. Sighing, I sit down on the bench below the balcony and bury my head in my hands. I could have sworn I heard Gabe call my name after that, but I probably just imagined it.

* * *

><p>"Jo, are you okay? You look…<em>worried<em>."

I look up. Juliette steps out of the darkness beneath the white balcony. She has a small cup of gummy worms in her hand.

I groan. Why is it always either Gabe or Juliette showing up at the wrong moments? While I still hate Juliette, I can't help but feel a little guilty about what happened. I mean, Gabe _is _her boyfriend.

Juliette looks at me thoughtfully. "What are you thinking about?" she asks.

"Nothing!" I say a little too quickly, so I add, "I'm looking for my date. Have you seen him? His name is Austin and—"

"Never heard of him," Juliette stands up. "But if you're looking for someone, I heard they installed a telescope on the balcony. I'm sure you will be able to spot him from there."

Juliette grabs my wrist before I can protest. She drags me across the gym, up the balcony steps and to the telescope. Without much of an option, I look through it.

"I don't see—" I stop mid-sentence as I turn to see Juliette glaring down at me. All guilt I once felt diminishes instantly.

"_And. She's. Back_."

In retrospect, I probably should have seen this coming. This is Juliette we're talking about. Even if she did decide to forgive me, she definitely would not go as far as to help me even if I begged her. Which I would never do.

"Congratulations, Jo Keener." Juliette sneers, clapping sarcastically. "You have successfully made it onto my hate list."

I roll my eyes. I've been on her 'hate list' since day one. "I thought we were done with this. You said you wanted to be my friend."

"I also said I was a Sagittarius so Gabe and I would be compatible."

"What?"

"Nothing's more compatible with a Sagittarius than another Sagittarius. Uh duh! Don't you know your star signs?"

"Again Juliette…_what_?"

"Never mind." Juliette rolls her eyes. "Anyway, let's face it Jo; I'm an amazing actress."

More like a big, fat liar.

"What do you want, Juliette?" I huff.

"For you to get a clue!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb!" Juliette shoves me. "What part of 'back off my boyfriend' don't you understand?"

Oh my gosh. Not this again. "I don't—"

"'_Like Gabe_?' Puh-lease Jo! Give me a break! Everyone knows that you do. Denying it won't change anything!"

"Is that why you brought me up here. To yell at me for 'liking' you boyfriend? Because, if that's all then I'm leaving. I don't care about you or Gabe or anyone else who thinks that I like him. Because I don't."

"You're not leaving till I'm done!" Juliette kicks the balcony and the stair go crashing down.

_What the actual heck? _It's like she planned and rehearsed this entire thing. Actually, knowing Juliette, she probably did plan and rehearse this entire thing.

"I saw that little 'interaction' you just had with Gabe," Juliette begins circling me.

"So?" My voice sounds a lot weaker than usual.

"YOU _KISSED_ MY BOYFRIEND!" she shrieks. "_You _kissed _my_ boyfriend! Don't tell me you don't like him because I doubt you did it for fun!"

So she knows. Great…

I try to protest, but I can't. I mean, I seriously can't. For the first time in possibly forever, Juliette is right.

I didn't kiss Gabe for fun. That's just weird. I also didn't kiss him because I hate him. That makes absolutely no sense. _So why did I kiss him?_

I want so badly to say it was to make Juliette jealous. Which is true. That's the reason why I danced with Gabe in the first place. But at the same time I know there was another reason why I did it.

A reason I'm still incapable of putting into words.

"I also saw him push you away. And do you know why he pushed you away?" She pauses as if she actually expects me to answer her. I don't, of course. "He pushed you away because—let me break this down so your little brain can comprehend what I'm about so say—_he doesn't like you_. He never did and he obviously never will!"

I hate to admit it, but her words actually kind of hurt. "What makes you so sure?" I hiss at her. I'm really trying hard not to freak out and punch her in the face, but she makes it so flippin' difficult.

Juliette lets out a harsh laugh. "Because you are a _loser_. No boy would ever like you even if you _paid_ them. Just look how long Austin stuck around before moving on to another girl. Clearly he doesn't like you anymore than Gabe does!"

Austin? Why is she talking about Austin? I look over the balcony again and, what do you know? He's there. In plain view. With another girl. He was probably with her this entire time.

Gosh. I'm such an idiot.

I turn back to Juliette, trying not to let my face show that I'm surprised by this Austin discovery. "So a couple of guys don't like me. What are you _really_ trying to prove?"

"That you are a freak." Juliette replies simply.

I roll my eyes. That's it? "_I'm _a freak? If you wanna see something freaky, try _looking in the mirror_!"

Just like that, Juliette snaps. Like, completely snaps. I mean, my insult wasn't even that good, yet it still causes her to go completely insane. And by insane I mean she slaps me across the face. Or maybe she scratched me. A mixture of both? I don't know. Either way, it hurt. A lot.

I feel my cheek and lips. No blood, thank goodness. There is, however, something written on the palm of my hand. While I can't remember when I wrote it, I know it must have been me because it's written in my signature messy scrawl.

_**You must fight for the one you love.**_

My fortune. The one that made absolutely no sense when I first looked at it. The one that's now crystal clear.

The one I can totally see myself tattooing on my neck in the future.

"_Alright! That's it_!"

To heck with playing nice with Juliette. This little ball of fury is just about ready to explode.

Within seconds, a fight between Juliette and I breaks out on the balcony.

No, I'm not just talking insults. I mean a full, blowout brawl with kicking, and punching, and scratching, and hair pulling. You know, like in those stupid reality shows. If we didn't gather a crowd before, we definitely did now.

"_Juliette_? _Is_ _that_ _you_ _up_ _there_?"

"_With_…_Jo_?!"

"_Fight! Fight!_ _Fight!_"

"_You're ruining my dance!_"

You'd think by now a teacher would notice the commotion and put a stop to this, but apparently they either don't care, are too dumb to realize that there are two girls beating the heck out of each other on a giant fake balcony, or they ditched the dance before it even began.

Juliette rips the tiara out of my hair. "Ha! Now who's the pretty little princess?"

Okay, fighting me is one thing, but _no one _touches a girl's tiara. No matter how stupid they look in it.

"Giving that back!" I scream, attempting to grab it from her. Unfortunately I miss because, let's face it, Juliette is much taller than me even without the heels. Her shoes just make it all the more impossible.

Juliette glares down at me. Saying that she looks crazy would be an understatement. She has much more injuries than I do, her hair is sticking out in all directions, and the hem of her dress is torn.

"Why don't you just give up, Jo?"

Because winners never quit. Duh! "Why are you so jealous just because I have a crush on Gabe?!"

A series of gasps is heard from below, causing me to roll my eyes. I lean over the balcony. _"_Puh_-lease!_ Like you didn't already know that!" I'm extra careful not to make eye contact with Gabe. I don't want to add anything more to my bowl of mixed emotions.

"Can't you see it's over?" Juliette blows a strand of her dark hair out of her face. "You had your chance to forfeit and now you've lost. Game over. I've won!"

That reminds me of the fight I had with Gabe a while ago. He told me that I look at life like it's a stupid game that I can't control. He was right about one thing. Reality is out of my control. On the other hand, life is just one big video game.

"And I've always been the better player."

Juliette looks at me, confused. "What?"

I take this as my opportunity to slap the tiara out of her hands. It seemed smart at the moment, but as I watch the tiara fly through the sky, I realize that I probably should have thought this through.

"_No!_"

Juliette and I lean over the balcony, watching as my tiara plummets to its potential doom.

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><p><em>That's all for now. Hope enjoyed.<em>

_Peace out!_

_~BETA :D_


	14. Chapter 13

_Hey, it's BETA!_

_I believe this is the second-to last-chapter. __I don't understand this chappie at all, which is odd considering I wrote it. Then again, its probably just me hating on my writing as usual. :P_

_A lot happens in this particular chapter. I don't want to give anything away, so if you really want to know you have to read to find out._

_So...what are you waiting for? ENJOY! :D_

* * *

><p><em>I don't own GLC. The only thing I'm guilty of is missing the show. :(<em>

* * *

><p>The room seems to move in slow-motion as everyone below us rushes to catch the falling tiara.<p>

I find that my eyes are shut tightly. As much as I hate that stupid thing, I don't have the heart to see it shatter into a million pieces. So I listen quietly, bracing myself for sound of broken jewelry.

The sound never comes.

"_What the—?"_

Before I get a chance to see what stopped the fall, Juliette violently drags me by my hair to the center of the balcony and once again starts attacking me like the crazy girl she is. With the amount of cuts and bruises I've given her, she looks like she was attacked by a rabid dog. I'm half expecting her to start foaming at the mouth or something.

"You're dead to me, Jo Keener! _You hear me_?! DEAD!" Juliette screeches as she tugs my hair in rhythm to her own panting.

I swing a fist at her, which she manages to dodge. She then attempts to trip me, in which I flip her in response. When she gets up I begin kicking at her feet repetitively.

"You say you have a broken ankle?! I'll give you a dang broken ankle!"

"Stop that!"

"Why?" I ask menacingly. "Have you finally given up? Realized I'm the best?" I smirk at her but don't stop kicking. It's too much fun.

Juliette's face goes bright red as she squirms in mild discomfort. Suddenly there's an odd cracking sound and the bratty brunette falls over. It takes me a moment to realize what the heck had just happened.

_I broke her heel._

"MY _SHOES!_" Juliette screams so loudly I wouldn't be surprised if all of Denver heard her. "Look what you did to my sparkly shoes! Do you know how much I spent on them?" She doesn't bother giving me time to come up with a snarky remark before she continues. "More money than _you're_ worth!"

Juliette removes her heels and chucks them at me. I dodge both of them and they end up flying over the balcony. The first one lands in the punch bowl, but I lose sight of the second quickly due to Juliette harshly grabbing me by the wrist.

"Nice aim," I say sarcastically, not at all fazed by her touch.

Juliette snarls, then proceeds to throw more insults at me, all of which I respond with something twice as insulting. This goes on for about two or three more minutes until something—or more like_ someone_—catches my attention.

It's Austin.

He's waving his arms around and mouthing words at me. I figure he's trying to tell me something, but it looks more like he's dancing. _Really badly_.

"What?" I mouth at him, not bothering to hide my annoyance. If this is his way of telling me what a freak I am, dancing around like a lunatic isn't helping _his_ case.

Austin pauses, thinking for a moment, then runs across the gym. Luckily everyone is too preoccupied me and Juliette fighting to notice him. I slowly make my way to the side of the balcony now closer to Austin, careful not to make it obvious that I'm paying absolutely no attention to Juliette.

(Although the fact that I haven't screamed one insult at her yet should be enough proof that I'm not listening to her).

Out of the corner of my eye I notice Austin point to a rope swinging next to him. He points at himself and feigns pulling it. I raise my eyebrows at him. Austin sighs. He points at me, at Juliette, and the side of the balcony closest to the wall. Then he points at the ceiling.

I look up. Suddenly I get it.

With Juliette still insulting me, I slowly make my way to the side of the balcony Austin was pointing at. As I do so, my mind starts racing. '_This is a trap. Austin is tricking you. He's a jerk, why would he help you_?'

I stop walking and look up. This is it, this is the exact spot. I take a deep breath. If Austin really is messing with me, now would be the exact time to pull the rope.

He doesn't. I smile.

"What's so funny, Freak?" Juliette starts doing some weird thing with her right hand, probably her signal to Austin. I'm guessing Austin and Juliette set this prank up for me, but Austin had a last minute change of heart. Why he did so, I have no idea.

I bite my lip. I only have one shot at this, so I have to get it right the first time. I need to get Juliette to lunge at me. Crazy, I know, but it's the only non-obvious way to get her to stand in the exact spot I'm standing in.

But how do I get her to attack? I have to say something that will really peeve her off, obviously.

I think back to everything that's happened since the she-devil came to our school. From when I first flipped her up until this exact moment on the balcony. She's jealous of me and Gabe's relationship, that I know. I don't _get_ it since Gabe and argue most of the time, but I know.

I also know that she dragged me up here because I kissed Gabe, so I guess it's pretty obvious what topic will make her scream. Or, preferably, get her to attempt to rip my eyes out of their sockets.

_Stupid Gabe._

I know I've mentioned this billions of times before, but it's strange how all my problems lead right back to the root of them. Gabriel B. Duncan is everything wrong with my life, yet here I am using him to make things right.

The problem and the solution all wrapped up in one. I kinda like that.

"Jo!" Juliette's still barking at me, but she seems to realize that I'm no longer paying attention. She also seems to realize that Austin is ignoring her. I figure this since she keeps glaring at him and hissing his name.

I sigh. If I really want to do this, I need to do it now.

"You think you so great, don't you Juliette? You think you're so much better than me."

"Because I am," Juliette flips her messy hair and rolls her eyes.

I raise a brow at her, the tiniest of smirks forming on my lips. "That's what you keep telling me. But if that were so true, then you wouldn't feel so threatened by me, now would you?"

The gym is mostly silent, besides confused murmurs. No one, not even Juliette, has any idea where I'm going with this. That makes things only ten times better for me.

Juliette lets out a loud laugh—no, a cackle. She freakin' _cackles _like the Wicked Witch of the West. "_Me_? Feel threatened by _you_? Jo, you're hilarious!"

"That wasn't a joke, you idiot. Ever since you moved here you've been at my throat. Think I'm going to make a move on your boyfriend or something. Steal him away from you. Make you look stupid, not that you don't do that on your own already."

Juliette scoffs. "Puh-lease! Gabe would never go for someone as pathetic as you."

"_Really_?" I feel my face grow red. "Is that why he chose slow-dancing with me over looking for you?"

"That doesn't prove anything!" Her tone of voice says confident, but her facial expression says otherwise. I am _so_ breaking her.

"Are you sure about that Juliette? 'Cause, most boys who care would choose their _girlfriend _over the 'pathetic girl with no chance.' Unless, of course, the pathetic girl _does _have a chance, and you seem to think that she does."

"I'm not jealous of you!" Juliette begins breathing heavily, her eyes narrowing. For someone who's not jealous, she looks pretty dang jealous.

"So…it didn't bother you when we danced together? Or what about when we kissed? It didn't bother you then, did it?"

Juliette looks just about ready to kill me, which is great. I almost got her. Just one more hit.

"Face it, Gabe and I have a history! My on-and-off crush is currently on and I've kissed him! Not once, but _twice_! And guess what?! For all it's worth, I'D DO IT AGAIN!"

That's it. Juliette lunges at me, screaming things I can't quite make out. I'm able to slide past her and turn just in time to see Austin pull the rope.

The bucket above her flips over, and next thing I know, Juliette is drenched in chocolate sauce.

At least, I _think _its chocolate sauce. I'm not about to taste it to find out.

The room erupts with laughter. Austin gives me two thumbs up and I smile at him. Juliette turns to me, then glares at Austin.

"You were supposed to dump this stuff on _her_!"

Austin shrugs. "You told me to dump it on the ugly girl. I must have misheard you. My bad."

The laughs intensify.

"You're the worst cousin ever!"

I raise my eyebrows. _Cousin_? Well, I guess that explains why Austin was helping Juliette in the first place. Still…_cousin_?

Everyone else seems to find the cousin thing hilarious, as the laughs get even louder. Juliette turns back to me. I purse my lips, forcing myself to keep from laughing hysterically. She smiles cruelly. "Its okay, Jo. Enjoy it all while you still can. After tonight though, you better watch your back! I swear, Jo Keener, and mark my words! YOU WILL BE—!"

Juliette stops mid-sentence, her eyes wide and her face deathly pale. She's no longer looking at me. Instead, her eyes are glued to something else.

Everyone below us follows her gaze. Then the room goes dead-silent. That's never a good thing.

I don't even have to look to know what everyone is looking at. There's only one thing—one person—who can make that many people terrified at once. And it's not me.

"What on earth is going on in here?"

It's Mrs. Young, the _Principal_.

We are so screwed.

* * *

><p>Suspended.<p>

That's all I got out of Mrs. Young's extremely long and boring speech.

Juliette and I are both suspended for a week for fight on school grounds.

This isn't a big deal to me. It's not the first time I've been kicked out of school and I doubt it'll be the last. Juliette, on the other hand, looks sick to her stomach. It's as though she's never been in trouble before. This actually makes me feel a lot better about the whole situation. Little Miss Perfect is finally paying for her crimes.

From my seat in the Principal's office, I can hear music blaring from the gym. I guess the dance is still going on despite the fact that two girls nearly killed each other on a balcony. For a moment I thought the entire dance was going to get shut down, but I think it's better this way. I'd hate to have a bunch of stupid popular kids freaking out at me over ending a silly school dance.

I turn to face Juliette. She's tapping away on her phone, probably texting one of her non-existent friends. Or maybe another unsuspecting cousin. She looks up suddenly, takes one long look at me, snarls, and then goes back to her texting. What a freak.

"Psst! _Jo!_"

I turn. Leaning against the doorway is Hot Heather, her manicured nails beckoning me. What the heck is _she _doing here?

"I just came to see how you were," she says, reading my mind. "That fight on the balcony looked pretty intense."

I get up and make my way to where Heather is standing. "What do you want, Heather?" I ask rudely while slamming the door shut. Whatever it is, I don't want Juliette eavesdropping.

"From you? Nothing."

"Then why are you here? We're not friends. I hate you."

"I know we're not friends…" Heather says, ignoring the 'I hate you' part. "…And I know that we probably never will be. But I'm Gabe's friend, and Gabe is yours—I think. So excuse me for actually caring."

"Gabe isn't my friend anymore," I snap. "I don't think he'll ever speak to me again, not after I beat up his girlfriend."

"That's not what I heard," Heather smirks. "Everyone's buzzing about the fight. Videos have already been posted online. Rumours are spreading like wildfire. Gabe—" Heather stops abruptly, bending over slightly so she can look me in the eyes. "I heard that Gabe's thinking about breaking up with Juliette for you."

"He is?" As much as I try not to show it, I can't help but let the corners of my mouth turn upwards.

"Yes, and thank goodness for that. No offense to her or anything, but she was a little…psycho."

I laugh, and Heather laughs too. I never thought I'd see the day when the two of us would ever have a civil conversation. Yes, Heather has never really been mean to me. I've always been the judgmental one, but still. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so as long as Heather is calling Juliette a psychopath…I'm willing to give her a chance.

Heather eventually leaves and less than a minute later Stella, Lucille, Maddi, and Ashley show up, refusing to shut up about how awesome I am. When they leave six or seven minutes after that, I'm surprised to see Austin standing next to me.

"Hello."

"You set me up."

"I apologize greatly."

I smirk. "You stabbed your cousin in the back. Why are you apologizing to me?"

"I asked you to go to the dance with me because Juliette told me to. I was going to dump stuff on you because Juliette told me to. I—"

"You already lost your man-card by letting your pathetic cousin push you around. Don't get all sappy over this."

Austin smiles sadly. "You seem like a nice girl—"

"That's a first."

"A _reasonably_ nice girl," Austin corrects himself. "You deserve someone who really cares about you."

Austin hands me a pink rose—I'm not going to ask where he got it from—and walks away. Just like that. I stare at the flower, wondering when I'll see him again while secretly wishing it'll be soon. He may not have been the best date and I doubt I'll be seeing any 'Jo and Austin' in the future, but he is a really great guy. I'm still not sure_ how_ he's related to Juliette.

My hand is on the doorknob, just about to step back into Mrs. Young's office, when there's a tap on my shoulder.

It's Gabe.

"Special delivery for Jo Keener," he says, pulling something shiny out from behind his back. In his hand is my tiara, the one that went flying off the balcony. He saved it.

Gabe places the tiara on my head. It feels lopsided, but I don't dare touch it. He then tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. I blush.

I feel so weird right now. I, Jo Keener, am sharing a moment with Gabe. I've shared moments with Gabe before, yes, but this is different. This is special. I feel…on top of the world…like I can do anything…

"You're not going to kiss me again, are you?"

"Screw you, Gabe Duncan."

And now the feeling's gone.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" I ask, adjusting my tiara. "Your girlfriend's inside. I would be too, but the toxins she exhales is killing me."

Gabe shrugs. "Heard you got expelled. Wanted to find out for myself."

Man, rumours travel faster than the plague at this school.

"I wasn't expelled, you dork. I was _suspended_. There's a huge difference. And anyway, why do you care? I thought you'd be happy that I got kicked out of school. No more 'Jealous Jo' interfering with your relationship or whatever"

Gabe sighs. "Look, I'm sorry I accused you of being a liar. You were right about Juliette. Anyone who thinks for even a second that they could beat you in a fight is crazy."

Heck yeah they are.

"But, to be fair, you're not exactly the most trustworthy person…"

"I know, I know. Now shut up before you ruin the moment." I pause. "I…I guess I'm sorry too. For…you know, being a jerk and stuff. Juliette may be a crazy, but she's still your girlfriend. If I want to stay friends with you, I need to get over it and move on."

"Not anymore, you don't. Juliette and I are finished. Or, at least we will be soon. That's why I'm here. To break up with her."

Even though I kinda knew this was coming, it still brings a smile to my face.

"Oh. Well, in that case, screw her. I'd say I'm sorry that things didn't work out, but then I'd be lying. And I am _not _a liar."

"I think I got that now." Gabe runs a hand through his messy hair. "After you admitted to the entire school that you liked me, I figured you had a lot more truth in you than I thought."

Oh my gosh. Of course he had to bring _that _up.

"Don't be stupid. I only said that because I knew it would drive Juliette deeper into insanity. I don't like you." Apparently I like lying though.

Gabe raises his eyebrows at me. "Do you really expect me to believe that after you attempted murder on a fake balcony for me?"

"It was worth a shot." I take a seat on the floor, slightly embarrassed. Gabe plops down next to me.

"I believe a comment was made about your on-and-off crush on me being currently on?"

"Yep." I refuse to look him in the eyes so I stare straightforward. "But don't worry. The moment you say something stupid, which will be soon, it'll turn back off. Then Jealous Jo will die a painless death and I can go back to hating you like everyone else."

"Well that sucks. Not gonna lie, Jealous Jo is kinda hot."

I shove him a little too hard for it to be considered 'playful'. "Don't you have a girlfriend to break up with or something?"

"I will. But first there's something I have to do. Now stand up."

I give him a look but stand up anyway. Gabe gets up and grabs me by the shoulders. "Okay! Now close your eyes," he says.

"What? No."

"Do it or…I'll never braid your hair again."

I smirk. "Really Gabe? Who do you think I am, Hot Heather? I don't care if you braid my hair."

"Just do it. It's not like anything bad is going to happen if you do."

I sigh obey his every command. I close my eyes, spin around five times, touch my nose, stick out my tongue, and sing the alphabet backwards. I still have no clue what the heck he's doing, but it's a small price to pay being able to talk to him without things being totally awkward.

"You're eyes are still closed, right?" Gabe asks after my dead-on impression of Teddy when she buys new shoes. I nod. "Good. Now tell me you like me."

"I like you," I say before I can stop myself. I don't even have to open my eyes to see the smile forming on Gabe's lips.

"Ha! I've done it! I've successfully summoned Jealous Jo from the dead!"

"No you haven't." I open my eyes just in time to see Gabe smile slowly fade away. "I'm still plain old Jo Keener who hates you. A lot. The only person I hate more than you is myself for liking you so much at the same time."

I didn't mean to confess my feelings directly to him. But as long as he already knows… "You're like an ant. The bug, I mean. Ants are cute and cuddly and you want to protect them, but at the same time it's fun to watch them suffer on sunny days when you have a magnifying glass."

"…Huh? Jo, that made no sense at all."

"_Kind of like our relationship…_"

* * *

><p>It's a known fact that Gabe and I have a complicated relationship. We hate each other, yet we hang out almost every day. We argue, I (used to) beat him up, and we've kissed. Three times.<p>

Our first kiss was purely accidental and completely humiliating. I don't even count it as a kiss. It was more of two lips slamming into each other after I fell off a fake balcony. Not my fault.

Our second kiss was also an accident. Another humiliating, spur-of-the-moment accident. Unfortunately, this one _was_ my fault. While I do wish that kiss never happened, without it I wouldn't be where I am now.

Standing outside the Principal's office, kissing Gabe Duncan. _Again._

Unlike the first two, this is no accident. And unlike the others, I'm not afraid to admit that I kinda like it. A lot.

But hey, you know what they say. Third time's a charm.

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><p><em>Don't worry! There is another chapter on the way!<em>

_~ Beta_


	15. Chapter 14

_Here it is, folks. The final HCD chapter!_

_I have very mixed feelings about this. I'm happy that this story is done, but I'm also sad that this story is done. I think the ending is kinda cheesy, but it's way better than the randomness that was my original ending, so..._

_...yeah..._

_ANYWAY, I really hope you guys enjoy this :)_

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><p><em>I still don't own Good Luck Charlie.<em>

* * *

><p>The following morning I sleep in. Not because I'm tired, or because of school (it's Saturday and I'm suspended anyway, remember?), but because of my mom.<p>

She was really upset when she found out I that got into a fight and was kicked out of school. Wait, I take that back. Mom wasn't upset, she was angry. Like, teeth-clenched, face red, vain popping out of her forehead angry. Which is big, since she's usually pretty chill. Apparently, 'violence is never the answer', whatever that means. I hate to be a smart aleck, but from my experiences, there's nothing a little fist-to-face contact can't solve.

Unfortunately, my mom doesn't see it my way, so now I'm grounded. No friends, no electronics, no life. While I am used to these rules—I've been grounded more times than I've insulted Gabe—it doesn't make me any less angry. The whole thing was Juliette's fault, not mine. _She _was the one who dragged me onto the balcony. _She _was the one who started insulting me. I can't quite remember who packed the first punch, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were her.

I was merely a victim of Juliette's viciousness. Everything I did was out of self-defense.

Again, Mom doesn't see it my way. So in order to avoid her, I lock myself in my room and wait for her to leave the house. And, what better way is there to pass the time than to sleep? I'm not sure how long I'm out, but I know I'm awakened by the sound of the car engine starting up.

Peeking through the window, I watch the car leave the driveway. When I'm certain she's gone with no way of turning back again, I pick out my outfit for the day and go to the washroom to get ready. Fifteen minutes later, I go downstairs to make myself a quick breakfast. Then I get to work.

It takes me almost an hour to get everything set up. Videogames, extra chairs, junk food that I may or may not have gotten from my secret stash in the basement. Long story short, I'm so tired by the time the doorbell rings that I consider calling this whole thing off.

Fortunately, seeing Gabe's face at the door gets me excited all over again.

"You got my message!" I grin, giving him a quick hug.

"Um…yeah." He looks me up and down, taking in my outfit. While he doesn't comment on it, I notice the corners of his mouth turn up slightly. "I thought you said you were grounded."

"I _am_ grounded. So grounded. When my mom comes home—which could literally be at any moment—I'll be buried. No joke. She'll probably kill me."

Gabe laughs. I narrow my eyes at him and dig my heel into his toes. "There is nothing funny about my potential death, Stupid!"

"Not that," Gabe pushes me off of him. "It's just…well…so your mom hates you right now and your solution is to throw a party?"

"Yeah," I cross my arms, suddenly feeling defensive. "What's it to you?"

"Nothing!" Gabe puts his hands up in defeat. "It's cute. Reckless, stupid, childish."

I relax. I can't stay mad at Gabe. Mostly because I played pat-a-cake with his ex-girlfriend's face and confessed my totally deniable—I've been doing it since the fifth grade—feelings for him yesterday, but still.

"You texted everyone about my party right?" I ask, changing the subject.

Gabe nods. "I told everyone to come in an hour because I wasn't sure how long it would take you to set up."

"An hour? Seriously?"

"Hey, you could've texted everyone just as easily. You have your phone."

"Yeah, because I ransacked my mom's room looking for it. She is getting surprisingly better at hiding things from me."

Gabe gives me his signature smirk. "So now you're throwing parties _and_ destroying parents' rooms? Jo Keener, _such_ a rebel."

"I try."

* * *

><p>Forty-five minutes later my house is packed.<p>

And when I say packed, I mean _packed_. I swear, everyone I know from school is here, plus a bunch of unfamiliar faces. I honestly didn't expect this many people to show up. Then again, who can resist a good party?

"Looking good, Keener!"

I grin and lift my plastic cup in toast. Normally that's the kind of comment that would end with someone in an ambulance, but today I take it as a compliment. I've been getting a lot of compliments lately, both about me and about the party. It's weird. I'm not used to getting this kind of attention.

It's also something else. Something…nice?

"Jo Keener! Do my eyes deceive me or are you showing leg?"

I turn around to see Hot Heather linking arms with Lucille. Both of them are holding cans of Coke.

"You're wearing dresses now?" Lucille squeals in delight. "This doesn't have anything do with _Gabe_, does it?"

I roll my eyes. Yeah, I'm wearing a dress. Turns out they're not as bad as I thought and orange doesn't actually make me look like a carrot. Don't think too much of it though. I'll still pummel you to the ground if I have to.

"It's just a stupid dress, Lucille. I wore one yesterday too, remember? It doesn't mean anything."

"It means that you're in _lurve_ with Gabe," Hot Heather grabs me by the hand and twirls me around. "That's why you also did your hair and makeup."

Actually, I did my hair because I felt like it and my makeup to take attention away from the bruises Juliette gave me. While most of them were arm damage (smartly covered with the adorable jean jacket I may or may not have stolen from the Lost and Found bin at school), the awkward scratch-slap she gave me when I'd called her a freak, believe it or not, _did_ leave a mark.

Of course, what's the point of arguing with Hot Heather? I'm trying to be nicer to her and, besides, she's not wrong. She's certainly not_ right_…but she's not entirely off either…

…Tell anyone that I said that and I will end you.

"Nice party Jo," Jake says, walking up to me and slapping me on the back. "Although, I do have one complaint—"

I groan. "If this is about Nikki and Trevor, I can't control when or where they decide to suck face!"

Jake covers his mouth with his hands. I catch Gabe giving me a look from the corner of my eye, causing my cheeks to burn. Guess I said that last part a little too loud. Oops.

"This isn't about…_that_…" Jake says removing his hands from his mouth and wiping them on his jeans. "I was wondering why you didn't invite Heather. I'm not sure if you know this yet, but Heather and I are together. Like dating. Like officially. She updated her BuddyPage and everything—"

"Shut up, Jake." I point towards the kitchen. "Your annoying girlfriend is in there arguing with Zander, the only other boy besides you who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. Which, by the way, should be all the time."

Jake makes a weird pouting face. "You need to learn to be nicer to me if you're going to date Gabe. We're best friends, you know."

"Yeah, whatever." I walk past him, scanning the crowd to find Maddi and Stella, who promised they'd be here. I finally spot them sitting on the stairs. I rush up to join them.

"Having fun?" I ask.

Stella nods. Maddi doesn't respond. She's looking right past me. When I take a step towards her to ask what's up, she shoves me.

"What the—!"

"Who invited _her _here?"

Stella and I follow Maddi's gaze to the front door. Standing in the doorway is a brunette wearing a pink polka dotted dress and eating a cupcake. It doesn't take me long to recognize her.

I turn to Maddi. "I did. Well…I made Gabe invite her." Maddi makes a face at me that can't be described as anything other than complete shock. "What? It's Kit. She's Lucille's friend. If I didn't invite her, someone else sure would have."

"I'm not talking about Kit. I'm talking about the girl talking to Kit."

"What?" I lean forward and squint. Facing Kit is another, taller brunette. From where I'm sitting I can't see the girl's face, but Stella can. And she looks just as shocked as Maddi does.

"Is that…_Juliette_?!"

As if she can hear us, the girl turns and smiles. Not a nice smile, but one of those cruel smirks. While she's facing all of us, it's easy to tell that her pale eyes are focused on a single person. More specifically, me.

Yep, it's definitely Juliette.

"_Oh no_…."

I didn't expect her to come here, mainly because of how badly I messed up her face yesterday. I'm proud to say that I got some pretty good hits on that girl. Unfortunately for me, Juliette has mad makeup applying skills and was able to cover up her bruises way better than I was able to cover up mine.

"For someone who got beat up by savage yesterday, she looks pretty good," Stella comments, sliding her glasses down her nose.

"Shut up, Stella!" I screech. "Help me come up with a way to get rid of her!"

"Whoa there, Jo Keener. Take it easy." Stella grabs both my shoulders and turns me so I am facing her. "You don't need to come up with an elaborate plan to get rid of her."

"I would hardly call Jo's plans elaborate. Beating people up is pretty straightforward," Maddi notes.

Stella ignores her. "You already fought Juliette and that clearly didn't work. What you need to do now is talk to her. As in, with your words. Not your fists."

I snort. Like that's ever going to happen.

"I actually agree with Stella. As much as I'd love to see another fistfight, I'd rather it happen at school and not in the middle of your own party," Maddi says.

I groan. I hate Stella's logical reasoning and Maddi's inability to side with me no matter what.

"_Jo_…"

"Fine!"

I walk straight out the front door and into the backyard, not even acknowledging Kit as I drag Juliette with me. If I'm going to be using my words, it's not going to be anywhere anyone can see me. That and I don't want any witnesses around in case things go south.

Scowling, I turn to face the brunette she-devil.

"Are you lost or something? Did they let you out of the psych ward early? Like, what the _heck_ are you doing at my house?!"

Juliette doesn't respond. She only watches me with a look of amusement.

"Do you not know how to take a hint? No one likes you! No one wants you here! It's done, okay? All of this stupid drama is _done_. I won. You lost. Get over it."

I expect Juliette to slap me. Or call me something rude. Or scream something stupid like "_You stole my boyfriend! You won't get away with this!_" in her angry screech-voice. Instead, she adjusts the sleeves of her flannel shirt and laughs. Not even an evil cackle. It's a genuine, light-hearted laugh.

I'm not sure what's going on in that disturbed mind of hers, but it's really starting to freak me out.

"You're so cute, thinking that this is over." Juliette finally says. "That, just because you got the guy and humiliated the girl, you're going to be living happily ever after. That's not how things are. Romeo and Juliet _died _in the end of the play, remember?"

"Are you implying that Gabe and I are going to die? 'Cause last time I checked, _you're_ Juliet, not me."

Juliette looks at me long and hard for a moment. Then she leans in and whispers to me in a cold, cruel voice.

"_Just know that this isn't over_."

As I watch her walk away, I can't help but think that Juliette is wrong. Dead wrong. I know how things work. I know that happily ever after is complete crud. I didn't get the guy and humiliate the girl; I got the guy away from the humiliated girl.

I'm not quite sure about the whole Romeo and Juliet death thing or what it meant, but I wouldn't put it past her to be wrong about that too.

Still, despite all these wrongs, a tiny part of me is terrified because I_ know_ that Julietteis right about one thing; this isn't over.

And I can tell from that gut feeling in the pit of my stomach that it won't be over for a very long time.

* * *

><p>When I return to the party, I don't see Juliette anywhere. I guess she went home after our little talk.<p>

Speaking of 'talk', I have a few things I need to say before everyone passes out from all the sugar they've been eating. I wait for Zoey to finish her rendition of some Justin song on the karaoke (which is freakin' hilarious since she always puts 'in bed' at the end of her sentences), before grabbing the microphone.

"Hey, party animals! Are you having fun?"

I get a loud round of applause and some hollers in response. I wait for things to die down a bit before continuing. "I know—"

"You're not going to sing, are you?" Jake interrupts. "You sound like Darth Vader with a cold, and that's just your speaking voice."

The room erupts with gasps of shock and surprised murmurs. I roll eyes. I know exactly what Jake is doing. He's testing me to see if I actually listened to him and plan on being nicer because he's 'Gabe's best friend'. What a moron.

Instead of beating Jake up—second time today that I resist using my fists—I put the microphone down, pick up an unopened can of cream soda, and shake it. You can probably guess what I did next.

"Jo!"

"Normally I'd beat you up for this," I say, crushing the now-empty can with my foot, "but you were right. I _do _need to be nicer to you."

I go back to my original spot in the front of the room and pick up the mic. "As I was saying, I know this party was pretty last minute. It's my way to make up for the…intensity of yesterday's school dance."

Everyone begins talking at once, I guess about my brawl with Juliette. I clear my throat and yell at everyone to shut up.

"My epic duel landed me in some serious trouble with a lot of people, so if I don't get at least one thank you from every single person here, expect trouble. Also, to the idiot who thought it'd be a good idea to park their hideous yellow bike in the middle of the street, it's being run over for the fifth time as we speak."

I smile and toss the microphone, but not before screaming at the top of my lungs.

"_Happy Crush Day, Losers_!"

* * *

><p>I quickly lose track of time. Fortunately my mom calls to tell me she's working late.<p>

"So all's well that ends well, am I right?" Stella asks as soon as I hang up the phone.

"I guess." I give a signal to turn the music back on. "Whatever the heck that quote _really _means."

"It means that problems don't matter as long as the outcome is good," Maddi explains. "Although, there's still one problem that hasn't been solved yet."

"Is the problem the fact that you know what a proverb means when you don't even know what a proverb is?" Stella asks.

"No…" Maddi gives Stella an annoyed look. "The problem is that we still don't know who sent Jo those Crush Day roses!"

"Oh yeah," I shrug. "Guess I forgot about that."

Total lie. I spent the last twenty-four hours trying to figure out who did that to—I mean, _for_—me until finally realizing two very important things;

1. I don't know

2. I don't _care_

I risked my life trading punches with a psycho-maniac just so I could be with Gabe. The last thing I need is some random guy, who probably only sent stuff to spite me, messing things up.

Besides, while I'm still not a hundred percent sure, I already have a pretty good idea who did. And I forgive him.

"Do you know where Gabe is?"

Maddi and Stella both point towards the stairs and smile, as if they've been waiting for me to ask them that question all night. Which, knowing them, they probably were.

Playfully shoving my friends out of the way, I walk through the crowd and up the stairs. Gabe is sitting on the top step with a bag of potato chips on his lap. When I reach him I grab the bag and toss it.

"Um…I was eating those."

"Not anymore," I say, grabbing him by the wrist. "Now get up. I have something I want to show you."

"Do I have to?" Gabe whines, but gets up willingly.

Smiling, I walk him to my bedroom and towards the window. "Have you ever climbed up onto the roof of a house?" I ask, yanking on my closed polka dot curtains.

"Is that a trick question?" Gabe lightly pushed me out of the way and opens the window at maximum speed, quickly slipping through it. I follow after him.

"Cool, isn't it?" I say when we're both safely seated. Well, as safe as you would consider to reckless teenagers sitting on the roof of a house to be.

"What? Your roof?" Gabe asks.

I roll my eyes. "No, Stupid. I meant the sky."

The sun is finally setting, the usual blue sky now showing obvious shades of orange and yellow with bits of pink and purple in between as the sun lowers on the horizon. Nicest one I've seen in a while.

"The sky is great," Gabe says sarcastically. I don't think I've ever seen clouds up close before. No wonder we failed our project."

"Oh, shut up!" I not-so-playfully slap him on the arm. "Screw the clouds and look at the _colours_. It's like the sky barfed up different flavours of Gatorade or something."

"Wow, Jo. Great comparison."

"You are such a jerk." I say, lying down on my back. "Last time I show you something I care about."

"I'm just kidding," Gabe follows my movement and lies on his back as well. "It is pretty cool. I'm just…didn't think you were into this type of thing."

I shrug in response to his comment. I mean, what_ can_ I say? That there's more to me than just violence and zombie video games? That's stupid and way cliché. I'm better off shoving him off the roof.

Gabe turns his head to face me. "Do you always watch the sunset?"

I shake my head, turning my attention back to the sky. "Only every now and then, when I need a break. Sometimes I watch the sunrise instead." I can sense that Gabe is giving me a look, so I respond with a snippy, "What? Even fighters need peace sometimes. And, like I said before, I happen to really care for and enjoy sunsets. They're…pretty."

Gabe nearly chokes on his own breath. "Pretty? I thought you hated that word."

"I also hate you, yet here we are together."

That comment manages to shut him up. At least, for a few minutes.

"Do you have any idea why Jake said you couldn't sing?"

I sigh, sitting up. "I think he was trying to test me. Earlier today he said I have to be nicer to him if—" I pause, briefly questioning whether or not I want Gabe to know what Jake said. In the end I decide that I really don't care. "I have to be nicer to him if I want to date you."

Gabe is silent, as though he's processing this information. Finally, he sits up. "So…do you?"

I tuck a strand of stray hair behind my ear. "Do I what?"

"Want to date me?"

Well then. I totally walked right into that one. "You tell me. Did I treat him any nicer than I usually do?"

"You sprayed him with soda. That's only nice by your standards."

"Oh Gabe," I slide closer to him, resting my head on his shoulder. "When will you learn that my standards are the only ones that matter?"

Laughing, he wraps his arm around me and we watch as the single sun is slowly replaced by millions of stars. We must have been on that roof for hours, talking and laughing and watching the sky. It didn't matter to me what was going on in my house, or when my mom would come home. Gabe was my only focus. Gabe and the sky.

At one point I must have fallen asleep on Gabe's shoulder because the last thing I remember before being yelled at by my mother is dreaming. It was a nice dream, similar to the recurring one I've been having, only happier.

Much happier.

* * *

><p><em>"I've been waiting…"<em>

_ I spin around. There he is, hidden beneath the shadows of the trees. His big brown eyes staring at me. His pink lips twisted into a smirk. His hands rested on an invisible wall. _

_ You must fight for the one you love._

_ I take one step forward, and then another. I reach forward and touch the wall with my finger. It's cold, like ice. I place my hand out so our palms touch through the wall. It's suddenly warm. Slowly, I do the same with my other hand._

_ The wall shatters._

_ "Gabe."_

_ He takes my hand. Together we walk away from the shards of ice and towards my future, the rest of my life. _

_**You must fight for the one you love.**_

I did it. I fought. And let's just say, this was one battle worth winning.

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><p><em>So I'd like to thank everyone who alertedadded this story to their favourites. I'd also like to thank you all for the nice reviews._

_I'd even like to thank those of you who simply just read and enjoyed. It all means a lot to me. :)_

_I don't have any serious plans on writing another GLC fic anytime soon, but who knows? When it comes to fanfiction, I'm about as predictable as my updates (which aren't very predictable, if you didn't get it)._

_Anyway, thanks again for everything! I know there was a point where I was on the verge of deleting this story, and I'm so glad that I didn't. FIRST MULTI-CHAPTER STORY COMPLETED! WOOT! WOOT!_

_Again, thanks for being amazing. Love you all and hope you continue to read fanfiction, whether it's by me or Alpha or any of the other fantabulous authors on this site! Just keep on reading and writing!_

_XOXOX BETA :) _


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